Barroso calls for EU ‘federation’

Report of the State of the Union 2012 speech given by European Commission President José Manuel Barroso in Strasbourg, 12 September 2012.

Europe must evolve to 'a federation of nation states', he said, as he pleaded for deeper integration among the EU’s 27 members and an overhaul of the bloc’s treaties to end its ongoing economic turbulence.

The speech also included proposals for a single European supervisory mechanism for European banks and to boost the role and powers of European political parties (see separate records in ESO for information on these aspects)

ESO: Background information: Rules, but a vision above all http://www.europeansources.info/record/rules-but-a-vision-above-all/

ESO: Background information: Federal Leap or Political Unions? http://www.europeansources.info/record/federal-leap-or-political-unions/

European Commission: The Commissioners (2010-2014) : President : Speech on the State of the Union 2012 http://ec.europa.eu/soteu2012/index_en.htm

ESO: Background information: ECB to become bank union supremo from mid-2013 http://www.europeansources.info/record/ecb-to-become-bank-union-supremo-from-mid-2013/

BBC News, 12.9.12: EU Commission chief Barroso calls for 'federation' http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19568781

EurActiv, 12.9.12: Barroso: 'We will need to move towards a federation of nation states' http://www.euractiv.com/priorities/barroso-seeks-public-space-launc-news-514761

EurActiv, 14.9.12: Czech President rejects Barroso’s EU 'federation' plan http://www.euractiv.com/future-eu/czech-president-klaus-rejects-ba-news-514794

The Guardian, 5.10.12: A European constitution for the 21st century (via PressEurop) http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/2811681-european-constitution-21st-century

---