Ministers urge deeper EU political union

Germany, France seek more unified and confident bloc

BERLIN, June 27, (Agencies): The foreign ministers of Germany and France on Monday called for ambitious steps to strengthen the European Union after Britain’s shock vote to leave the bloc.

“We will... take further steps toward a political union in Europe, and we invite the other European states to join us in this endeavour,” Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Jean-Marc Ayrault wrote in a joint position paper.

The top diplomats of the two core EU founding members and biggest economies said that “Germany and France have a responsibility to strengthen solidarity and cohesion within the European Union”.

But they also signalled a willingness to accept a multi-speed union, writing that “we must ... acknowledge that there are different degrees of ambition towards further integration among the member states”.

The two centre-left politicians proposed closer cooperation in three key policy areas — internal and external security, the migrant and refugee crisis, and on fiscal and economic policy.

A spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a conservative, said she had read the paper and considered it one of the many contributions that would shape the way ahead for the EU, as its remaining 27 leaders agree on a common policy.

Ayrault and Steinmeier wrote in the paper, published in both German and French, that after the Brexit vote on Thursday, “the right answer is neither a simple call for ‘more Europe’ nor a mere phase of reflection”.

But they stressed that “Germany and France remain firmly convinced that the European Union is a historically unique and indispensable framework for the pursuit of freedom, prosperity and security in Europe, for fostering peaceful relations between its peoples and for helping peace and stability in the world”.

“Our two countries share a common destiny and a common set of values. Both together are the foundation for an ever closer union of our peoples.”

In their paper entitled “A strong Europe in an Insecure World,” the two ministers urged a more unified European security policy to address internal and external threats that are increasingly interrelated.

“The EU will in future be more active in crisis management,” including through civil and military means, they wrote.

“Germany and France will push for a Europe that acts in a more unified and confident way on the international stage.”

They called migrant and refugee flows to Europe “the central challenge for the future of our continent”, saying the bloc must be able to secure its external borders and stay true to its humanitarian values.

They also said Frontex should be strengthened to become “the world’s first multinational border and coastal protection agency”.

When it comes to taking in asylum seekers, they wrote that “a situation in which the burden of immigration is unevenly shouldered by a few member states is unsustainable”.

To face the threats of terrorism and organised crime, the ministers argued for more data sharing and closer intelligence cooperation.

On economic policy, they evoked a future joint budget and vowed steps to “promote the convergence of our economies, achieve sustainable growth that creates jobs, and make progress towards the completion of the European monetary union”.

They stressed that “France and Germany have a shared responsibility to build a robust monetary union that is globally competitive.”

BERLIN:

Also:

Britain should act quickly to leave the European Union, to limit uncertainty that is rattling investors, the European Union’s digital economy commissioner said on Monday.

A two-year process to quit the EU will begin when Britain’s prime minister invokes Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty. British Prime Minister David Cameron could do that when he meets the EU’s other 27 national leaders in Brussels on Tuesday, EU officials have said.

But in the aftermath of Britain’s vote to leave the EU, Cameron said on Friday he would resign in October and that he would leave it to his successor to start the process — a decision criticised by Guenther Oettinger, the EU commissioner for digital economy and society.

“Every day of uncertainty prevents investors from putting their funds into Britain, and also other European markets,” Oettinger told the Deutschlandfunk German radio station. “Cameron and his party will cause damage if they wait until October.”

Global stock markets lost about $2 trillion in value on Friday, the day after Britain voted to leave. The pound plunged to a 31-year low.