Hollande Warns UK Against “A la Carte” EU Membership
Please note that we are not authorised to provide any investment advice. The content on this page is for information purposes only.
French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday told the European Parliament that can there be no “a la carte” attitude towards EU membership and policymaking, warning in a thinly veiled reference to the UK that national interests are overtaking the European interest, jeopardising the cohesion and future of the bloc.
In his first address to the European parliament, Hollande on Tuesday called for “multi-faceted Europe which would neither be a two-speed Europe nor an a la carte Europe.”
French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday told the European Parliament that can there be no “a la carte” attitude towards EU membership and policymaking, warning in a thinly veiled reference to the UK that national interests are overtaking the European interest, jeopardising the cohesion and future of the bloc.
In his first address to the European parliament, Hollande on Tuesday called for “multi-faceted Europe which would neither be a two-speed Europe nor an a la carte Europe.”
While Hollande did not directly identify the UK or British Prime Minister David Cameron in his speech, his remarks were a thinly veiled reference to the position of the British leader, who last month vowed to renegotiate the terms of Britain’s membership in the EU and promised to hold a referendum on whether to stay in the EU.
According to Cameron, democratic consent for the EU was “wafer thin” in Britain and public disillusionment with the union at an all time high but ignoring the issue, “won’t make it go away.”
“I believe in confronting this issue – shaping it, leading the debate, not simply hoping a difficult situation will go away,” Cameron said last month.
Related News: British Prime Minister Proposes Vote on EU Exit
His proposals fuelled resentment in some EU capitals and the prime minister held talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday to try to avoid further isolation in Europe.
Hollande said yesterday:
[quote] A Europe with differences is a Europe where states – not always the same ones – decide to go ahead, take on new projects, unblock funds, harmonise their policies and to go beyond the base of common competences that we’ve created and that must remain intact. [/quote]
“My conception of Europe is not to call into question the gains” derived from membership in the Union but to emphasise the “construction of Europe,” Hollande added in a news conference later.
The next major hurdle for the Union gets underway on Thursday when EU leaders meet in Brussels for a two-day summit that is aimed at delivering a new seven-year eurozone budget worth about €1 trillion ($1.36 trillion).
While keen to avoid deepening rifts with Europe at the budget talks, Cameron has threatened to block a deal unless leaders find more savings. Cameron has called for wide-ranging cuts and reducing a proposed budget of €973 billion for the period from 2014 to 2020.
Hollande yesterday said it is necessary “to reason with those who want to amputate the EU budget beyond what it was possible to accept” and indicated he is willing to compromise to strike a deal.
But Hollande made it clear he will defend the contested agriculture policy which eats up almost 40 percent of EU spending and of which France is the biggest beneficiary. “Why should one country be able to decide in the place of 26 others?” asked Hollande.
A failure to reach a deal would be an embarrassment for the Union, which already spent much of the past two years seeking to keep the eurozone intact. The previous attempt in November failed after net contributor countries like Britain, Germany and Sweden were at loggerheads with net recipient countries like Poland, Lithuania and Spain over the size of the budget.
In a statement on Tuesday, Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council, warned that the negotiations could be long and rancorous. He said:
[quote] Budget talks are always difficult, lengthy and can look messy from the outside – and sometimes even from the inside. It happens that we get so absorbed by small details during the negotiations that the bigger picture gets lost. [/quote]
Related News: EU Contemplating Separate Budget for Eurozone: Report
