Brussels, 21/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - On a visit to the United States last week, Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta called for “radical change” at EU institutional level, combining the functions of president of the European council and president of the European Commission. “We need European leadership linked to the voters. There's a problem of legitimacy in my view that is crucial for the future of Europe. That is why I think that we need to have the president of the European Union elected directly.” It is only by strengthening the link between the people and the institutions that we will be able to strengthen Europe, he argued on Thursday 17 October, addressing the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think-tank.
In his speech, Letta, who had met US President Barack Obama at the White House that morning, regretted that there was no single figure to represent the EU internationally. “If Obama comes to Brussels, who will meet him? Many people”, he reflected, in a reference to the famous comment by Henry Kissinger: “Who do I call if I want to call Europe?” Still on the theme of the EU's place and influence in the world, Letta stressed the need to maintain cohesion between the states of the north and of the south of the EU, cohesion that has been sorely tried as a result of the tensions in the euro zone. He expressed his desire to promote a “change of generation” in the EU, by pushing employment for young people who are being forced to emigrate in massive numbers, particularly from the southern member states which have been hard hit by the crisis. (FG/transl.fl)