02/12/2011 (Agence Europe) - The European Federalist Party (EFP) is highly critical of remarks made by François Hollande, the French Socialist candidate for the presidential elections. While in Brussels, on Wednesday 30 November, Hollande stated his opposition to any deep reform of the European treaties, saying he would never agree to EU control over national budgets. Reacting the following day, the EFP considered that François Hollande “has not yet weighed up the European crisis” and his programme only consists of renewing the “ineffective and anti-democratic functioning that led to the debt crisis”. The federalist party also criticises comments by French Socialist Arnaud Montebourg, who said that the “question of German nationalism is surging up again through the Bismarck policy employed by Angela Merkel” and that “the time has come to take on political confrontation with Germany and defend our values”. European federalists consider the only way to overcome the crisis is to “move as quickly as possible towards budgetary federalism, under the democratic control of the EU people”. (OL/transl.jl)