Germany & France must STOP Europe domination: EU Commission boss in astonishing attack

Italy & Spain should be given greater EU influence to address the dominance of France & Germany

کد خبر: ۷۲۴۱۳۲

تاریخ: ۰۱ شهريور ۱۳۹۶ - ۱۱:۰۳

Mr Tajani has urged the EU to consider more central leadership roles for Italy and Spain because the current system - in which German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Emmanuel Macron have a disproportionate degree of control over Brussels - is unbalanced.

Speaking in Rimini, Italy, Mr Tajani said: "I do not think it is in the interest of Europe having the only leadership of France and Germany”, adding that "Italy and Spain” should be more involved.

He continued: "The agreement of these four countries would not exclude the rest. It would help the group to go faster. No 'conventio ad excludendum', but a way to go forward in a faster way."

He defended Mrs Merkel’s role in the EU, claiming "she does her job, so it is useless to complain about her”, but said that those who are not in a controlling role will "suffer” if the current leadership balance continues.

Mr Tajani explained: "We must protect our own interests, not to fight with others, but to add more balance to the scenario, because if you are not the protagonist, you are condemned to suffer. And it is not true that Brussels dislikes Italians: otherwise there would not have been two Italian candidates for the Presidency of the European Parliament.

"If we want to have a Europe that counts, a continent that has a role to play in the future, we should review things in the treaties and the role of the European Central Bank (ECB).”

The ECB plays a central role in the administration of the monetary policy of the eurozone, which consists of 19 EU members, and attempts to reform the organisation have not been entirely successful, according to Mr Tajani.

He said ECB president Mario Draghi "did his best, but within very strict limits”.

Mr Tajani also called for an EU organisation to be set up to combat the increasing threat of terrorism.

Just days after Barcelona became the latest European city to be hit by Islamist terror when a man ploughed a white van into pedestrians and tourists on Las Ramblas in the city centre, Mr Tajani said the bloc needs a "European FBI” to prevent more devastating attacks.

He said that in order to fight terrorism, "which puts our freedom under attack, we need a European FBI".

Mr Tajani continued: "There is too much jealousy and bureaucracy.

"Who cares if a secret service gives information to one country or another? Information should flow between European services with a unique structure.”

Britain, Spain, Germany, and Sweden are among the European countries that have been hit by devastating terror attacks in the past 12 months, and the EU could suffer after Brexit because of Britain’s supremacy in gathering intelligence.

Earlier this year, former intelligence officer for MI5 Annie Machon says Europe needs the UK and its relationship with US intelligence services much more than Britain needs the EU.

Ms Machon said: "The special relationship, the key relationship between the US and the UK is the intelligence agencies.

"The Europeans have always known this. They have always known that the UK is like a halfway house and they are particularly concerned.

"This is why they got so angry when May said that she might try and leverage the security and defence aspect in the negotiations because they need the UK and they need the UK’s relationship with the US on that level much more than the UK needs Europe.”