Free Republic

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says the European Union can move forward on contentious issues even if some member states opt out. In a weekly podcast released Saturday, Merkel cited defense cooperation and the recent creation of a European Public Prosecutors Office as examples where some EU members are pressing ahead. Merkel say “if there are important topics, then they should always be open to everyone” but added that “not everyone has to join in.” …

<p>The European Union is losing a major player in the United Kingdom, but there’s other potential cracks in the alliance showing up and additional wrinkles to resolve. While it’s still far from a sure thing, Catalonia may split off from Spain, leaving a question mark over their future. And some of the established EU members have been making noises about not being terribly happy with the way Brussels runs the operation.</p>

Four Central European nations have hammered out proposals for the European Union that are intended to strengthen the voice of member nations and avoid divisions, Poland’s prime minister said Thursday. Beata Szydlo spoke following a meeting with her counterparts from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. […] Szydlo said that the joint declaration of the so-called Visegrad Group for a “better Europe” was agreed on Thursday and will be presented in Rome. It calls for EU institutions to take care of issues directly concerning Europeans, like security, protected borders, dignity, justice and equal treatment for each of the member states,...

Pope Francis’s “insight will be extremely important for Europe’s future,” said Maltese prime minister Joseph Muscat on Monday (27 February), while criticizing the EU’s “lack of leadership”. “Pope Francis is the ultimate world leader who has the skills and vision to say things that transcend banalities,” Muscat said in Valletta ahead of next month’s Rome summit. The Social-Democratic PM, whose country holds the current EU presidency, added that the Roman Catholic leader may “provide things other politicians miss”. […] He also said that the EU needs to “go ahead with multi-speed Europe”. “If the only way of staying united is...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said European leaders may commit to a union of “different speeds” when they make a major declaration on its future at a summit in Rome next month. The European Union has long been riven by debate about whether all countries must commit to full integration including the single currency, or whether some can go at different paces. The 27 leaders minus Britain are due to make a declaration at the summit in Rome in March marking the 60th anniversary of the EU, in which they will set out a post-Brexit roadmap. …

The federalist Spinelli Group and German think tank Bertelsmann Stiftung launched yesterday (3 October) a proposal for a reform of the Treaty of Lisbon in the form of a draft treaty called “A Fundamental Law of the European Union”. … People present at the event were given copies of the 300-page book written in English, which will be sold at the cost of €35 ($48), and which was dubbed by speakers “the treaty of Bozar”. The book is in fact a legal text. It is preceded, however, by a more reader-friendly nine-page “Commentary”, which sums up the most important modifications...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she will use the gathering of EU leaders at the end of the month to push ahead with plans for a political union, including more sweeping powers to Brussels. "We do not just need a currency union but also a so-called fiscal union—more common budget policy," she told Germany's ARD television early Thursday (7 June). She emphasized that a political union was also necessary: "That means that step-by-step in the future we have to give up more powers to Europe and grant Europe more oversight possibilities." While there has been a concerted effort over...