COUNTRIES should be forced to sign up to a “United States of Europe” by 2025 or else be booted out of the EU with immediate effect, a top German politician demanded today.
Martin Schulz, who hopes to enter a coalition with Angela Merkel and become Berlin’s second most powerful figure, said any member states who refuse to join his new superstate must leave.
He called for a new treaty to formally convert the EU into the United States of Europe, along the lines of the United States, though bizarrely claimed this was “no threat” to individual countries.
The socialist leader, who humiliatingly led his party to its worst ever showing in September’s general election, is now attempting to stitch together a coalition deal with Mrs Merkel.
Mr Schulz a bombastic former MEP and EU Parliament president who quit his Brussels job to take on the German chancellor, has never hidden his federalist ambitions.
His proposals would create federal Europe, which can act together in policy in areas including domestic and foreign security, tax and monetary affairs and asylum and international development.
In a conference speech he warned European values were being systematically undermined in countries like Poland and Hungary and that the EU needed more powers to uphold its laws.
Afterwards he tweeted in English: “I want a new constitutional treaty to establish the United States of Europe. A Europe that is no threat to its member states, but a beneficial addition.
“A convention shall draft this treaty in close cooperation with the civil society and the people. Its results will then be submitted to all member states. Any state that won’t ratify this treaty will automatically leave the EU.”
In reality his plan would certainly be vetoed by the other states, who have to agree unanimously on any treaty change, and would be extremely unlikely to get past Mrs Merkel herself.
Commentators said that his desire for a United States of Europe is not even that popular within his own party, which is heavily europhile, and stands virtually zero chance of success.
Nonetheless, the remarks will heighten the fears of eurosceptics who suspect the EU is heading towards an ever more federalist model in light of Jean-Claude Juncker’s deeply integrationist State of the Union speech.
Yesterday the Commission unveiled new plans for a beefed up eurozone, with its own finance minister, whilst plans for an EU army are also rapidly progressing towards reality.
Pieter Cleppe, an analyst at the Open Europe think-tank, said the proposals were jaw-dropping at a time of heightened euroscepticism and added: “Martin Schulz has become the EU's worst enemy.”
Meanwhile former Ukip leader Nigel Farage, who has consistently warned of plans for a United States of Europe, mocked: “If this is the route they are taking, it could be a very small European Union.”
Warnings about the possibility of an EU superstate featured prominently in the referendum campaign, with David Cameron securing Britain a special opt-out from ‘ever-closer union’.
EU leaders have seized upon the opportunity of Brexit to push forward with ambitious integration plans in a number of areas amid widespread dissatisfaction about how the project is run.