Brussels, 25/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 24 September the French minister for foreign affairs, Bernard Cazeneuve, stressed that, contrary to what is often said, France was not opposed to political integration - provided that this step is accompanied by increased economic solidarity. “We are in favour of political union”, he said at a conference organised by the European Policy Centre. And he added: “We are more unionist than many of our partners. The Union isn't decreed. It's like love - it doesn't need to be declared, it needs to be proved. We prove it more than we declare it.” He also said that Paris had been the first capital to ask for more political and monetary union, and a single bank supervision mechanism. France is also “in the forefront” on own resources for the European budget with its request to create a financial transaction tax.
Cazeneuve said he was in favour of more integration in political decisions so as to “lead to sharing sovereignty - and why not, if the project has breath, strength and coherence from transferring sovereignty”. Yet the EU must first use the treaties already adopted to “do urgently what must be done” to confront the sovereign debt crisis in Europe.
More solidarity. Cazeneuve also called for more solidarity to overcome the crisis. “Solidarity is as ineducable as the single currency is irreversible”, he said.
He added that over the course of 2013 he would try to publish a book on Europe and the French vision of Europe. He will speak to think tanks for this in order to “reflect and exchange views” to bring a contribution to the European elections in 2014. “Europe is not a problem - it's a solution. It's up to those who have a responsibility to show it”, he concluded (our translation throughout). (CG/transl.fl)