Why not a new treaty to deal with the euro crisis? In the opinion of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a new EU treaty is needed to strengthen political union in Europe and to give more power of control to certain institutions. So, a new treaty, dream or reality? We asked the opinions of German MEP Werner Langen and UK MEP Martin Callanan. It's an unachievable dream and it will certainly be a nightmare reality. With a bit of close inspection we'll see that any new treaty is going to take many years, three, four or possibly even five years by the time it has wound through all the processes. And it's going to be hugely controversial. Many Member States won't want to go down further into a federalist direction. They'll want to repatriate powers. The completion of the Economic and Monetary Union, which means further renunciation of sovereign rights, cannot be determined in an appendix at a summit meeting. We need a broad, democratic, Europe-wide debate about this. The fiscal compact only makes sense if it's based on a political union and more integration, would you agree? Nobody agrees on what a political union is. It's a glib phrase, but the French idea of a political union is very different from the German idea of a political union. Many other states will want to have a say in the constitutional negotiations as well. This is a distraction from the problems we face. A political union is one of the areas under consideration. However, many issues could be resolved if we finally adhered to the existing agreements. This is the main problem. The large countries and some of the smaller ones haven't stuck to their commitments. With a new treaty, the European Central Bank and Court of Justice would have their powers reinforced - a solution to the crisis? This presents massive political and constitutional hurdles. What about national democracy? If you take away all budget, fiscal, tax and spending powers from Member States and give them to adjudication by the Commission or the Court of Justice, what's the point of a national election? How long is it before you get a situation, like you have to an extent in Greece, where extremist parties are saying, 'We are not going to put up with this.' 'You don't have to submit to rule by the Commission or by unelected bankers in Frankfurt.' They are all elected. The ECJ judges are elected within the European Consensus, and the ECB President is also proposed and elected. These are elected offices. We cannot have continuous referendums all over Europe. We must recognise the elected institutions. The independence of the ECB is not being called into question. Could a treaty change things for Greece, or should the country, as some say, leave the eurozone? I think Greece should leave the eurozone and other countries should possibly consider their membership as well. We need to get back to the economic fundamentals. The problem is being caused in Europe by too much spending and borrowing. If they are willing to implement the necessary reforms, they will feel the solidarity of Europe. Otherwise the only solution is a temporary eurozone exit with a re-entry option. But this is up to the Greeks. Nobody can make this decision for them. Playing for time, however, as we have done for a number of years now, is no longer an option for Greece. Some countries simply don't want to hear about this treaty. It could even lead to questioning the EU participation of some. What about the UK? I would expect any UK Prime Minister, certainly a UK Conservative Prime Minister, if other countries want to have treaty negotiations, to start saying, 'Look at all the areas of the EU which work badly, agricultural policy, fishing policy, employment policy etc, the areas that everybody agrees are a disaster.' 'Let's shift them back to Member States, let's spend more at a national level rather than at European level.' The UK's membership is of significant benefit to the European Union as a whole. But it also tends to slam on the brakes as it has a different vision of the EU. The UK wants to turn Europe into a huge free trade area. It's not interested in the project of European integration. At some point the UK will have to make a decision about this. <br /><br />EuroparlTV video ID: c60eb18e-4340-493f-a3f7-a0c2012b77d6
