‘Two-speed’ EU may stop more nations leaving, says Portugal
THE European Union can prevent more Brexit-style referendums by creating a two-speed Europe, with an inner circle of countries deepening political integration and others frozen out, according to Portugal’s prime minister.
António Costa said the EU was divided between those committed to the treaty goal of “ever closer union” and others, like the UK, which saw the
European project as a vehicle for trade and nothing more.
He said a “fundamental debate” was needed on the future of the EU, with countries such as Hungary and Poland at loggerheads with Brussels over issues such as respect for the rule of law, gay rights and migration.
“There are two visions that are now passing through the different countries of the European Union,” Mr Costa said in a speech at the Catholic University in Lisbon. “Basically, it is whether the
European Union is a union of values, or whether, on the contrary, it is primarily an economic instrument to generate economic value.
“The lack of understanding of this distinction has certainly led to the departure of the United Kingdom, which saw the European Union as a platform for generating value, but not something that resulted from sharing fundamental values.”
The idea of a two-speed Europe has l ong been pushed by Emmanuel
Macron, the French president, but is resisted by Germany, which fears it could lead to the pooling of common debt. Mr Costa said on Monday it would prevent the need for a difficult and complex renegotiation of the Lisbon Treaty.
Most eastern European countries, which joined the bloc in 2004’s “big bang” of EU enlargement, are wary of the idea. They fear it would impose a second-class form of EU membership on them.
The socialist leader said some member states had hidden behind Britain, which fought to keep the EU as “primarily an economic instrument” during its EU membership rather than “a union of values”.
Those countries, such as the Netherlands, were now left exposed by Brexit, Mr Costa said.
In a veiled swipe at the Dutch, Mr Costa criticised richer member states that had resisted contributing more money to the EU budget to help with the recovery from coronavirus.