EU President's secret bid for economic power

[Joanne98]

The new President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, is using the financial crisis sweeping the eurozone to launch an audacious grab for power over national budgets, leaked documents reveal.


The Independent has seen a secret annexe to the letter being sent by Mr Van Rompuy to European Union heads of government inviting them to the summit to be held tomorrow in Brussels. In an early and muscular assertion of authority over national governments and over the EU Commission, the Van Rompuy note states: "Members of the European Council are responsible for the economic strategy in their government. They should do the same at EU level. Whether it is called co-ordination of policies or economic government, only the European Council is capable of delivering and sustaining a common European strategy for more growth and more jobs."


Mr Van Rompuy states that "the crisis has revealed our weaknesses", adding: "Budgetary plans, structural reform programmes and climate change reporting should be presented simultaneously to the Commission . This will provide a comprehensive overview."

An EU source explained: "It has become clear to everyone that this economic crisis can't be solved by individual member states, such as Germany helping out Greece. What we need is the same kind of mechanism that we have now imposed on Greece in order to monitor and survey eurozone countries. So the idea is to put all European economies under surveillance. You can expect some important decisions to be taken this week."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/eu-presidents-secret-bid-for-economic-power-1894549.html