International

The gulf could not be any bigger. Ever more citizens of its member states want nothing more to do with the European Union. Meanwhile, the Belgian chair of the Liberal group – known as the ALDE – Guy Verhofstadt, has proposed that United Kingdom citizens who wish to do so should, in the wake of Brexit, be allowed to pay to take out EU citizenship. This is a conscious step on  Verhofstadt’s part towards a United States of Europe, as up to now ‘EU citizenship’ has come along with the nationality of one of its member states. Verhofstadt is blind and deaf to public concerns, yet he is being recommended by the outgoing chair of the European Parliament, German social democrat Martin Schulz, to be the EP’s representative in the Brexit negotiations.

In the corridors of the European Parliament one hears increasingly often, now that Schulz has announced that he will resign as chair of the EP to return to German politics, that Verhofstadt could be a serious candidate to succeed him. I don’t even want to think about this. First of all Verhofstadt is up to his ears in all sorts of business interests which extend even as far as Ukraine, acting as a puppet for major corporations. But at least as important is that he makes no secret of the fact that he wants to proceed as swiftly as possible to a completely federal Europe, to what amounts to the United States of Europe. In December the EP will vote on his report to that effect. Given the large number of my fellow MEPs who are infected by the virus of federalism, I’m afraid that it will be adopted. 

In the recent past we have already seen proposals to limit the power of the Council of Ministers, in which member states are directly represented, and the upgrading of the European Commission so that its members become EU ministers. With European taxes, a European army, and a European police force and judiciary. But evidently things can get even dafter. Not only does Verhofstadt want to give teeth to European citizenship, but he wants to put this on sale to Europhile Brits who are against Brexit. Such citizenship would mean that they would remain free to work or establish a business  in any of the member states, and would retain the right to vote in European elections. 

It’s downright dangerous that so many MEPs, with Verhofstadt in the lead, continue to rush towards a federal Europe. This can only widen the gulf and stir up tensions in the member states between supporters and opponents. It’s principally the cosmopolitan upper crust of the population of the member states which supports a federal Europe. People with less to spend are becoming increasingly   eurocritical, because they can see very well that the EU represents not their interests but those of major corporations. Because of Verhofstadt and his ilk these groups will be more and more set at each other’s throats. That can’t end well.