Brussels, 03/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel is opposed to any extension to the powers of the European Commission and, in an interview with the weekly Der Spiegel published on Monday 3 June (see EUROPE 10857 on the meeting between Hollande and Merkel) ,she called for coordination of member states' policies to be strengthened.
She also informed the newspaper: “I don't see any immediate need to transfer any further prerogatives to the Commission in Brussels over the next few years”. She asserted, on the contrary, that she and President of France François Hollande are arguing for better coordination between member states, particularly in the economic sphere. The Chancellor indicated that, “François Hollande and I are much more in favour of improved coordination in political areas that have a decisive role in strengthening our competitiveness”. She explained that, “we are thinking, for example, of employment and pensions policies but also of tax and social policies”.
Merkel also believes that coordination of economic policy in Europe is “much too weak” and must be reinforced. According to the German Chancellor, this does not mean that it is necessary to transfer “more competencies to Brussels”. She also said that she had reservations on the idea of electing the president of the European Commission by direct universal suffrage and that “ a directly elected Commission president would have to have powers conferred on him/her that are be very different to what is currently the case”. (LC/transl.fl)