“Future of Europe Group” presents federal proposals

At a time when Euroscepticism has reached record levels in Germany, Süddeutsche Zeitung reports that a group of European foreign ministers led by Berlin is nonetheless advocating further European integration for "a better Europe". Launched early this year by Germany’s Guido Westerwelle, the "Future of Europe Group", which comprises 11 foreign ministers (for Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, and most recently France) convened for a final meeting on 17 September in Warsaw to present its ideas for future EU institutions —

The plan is to establish a European Monetary Fund (EMF) to reinforce monetary and economic union. Steps will also be taken to strengthen the role of the European Commission to better enable it to respond to 'violations of European values'. Finally, the group proposes to create a common border police to protect Europe’s external borders.

Westerwelle, who previously declared that he wanted to combat the crisis of confidence in Europe "with pro-European determination" told Süddeutsche Zeitung that he now "sees the light at the end of the tunnel" of the crisis. The group’s proposals are supposed to feed into the plans for EU reform to be announced by the European Council President, Herman Van Rompuy, in the coming weeks.