Brussels, March 01, 2017 - Responding to the presentation of the European Commission's White Paper on the Future of the EU, Ulrike Trebesius, MEP of the European Conservatives and Reformers Group (ECR), today argued for a future scenario in which the EU withdraws from many policy areas and concentrates on clearly defined core fields.

"Yes, the EU has provided peace, but that cannot be used to excuse all the organisation’s current failings. Once, the idea of the EU was to provide prosperity and growth, but these hopes have failed. That's not a mere slip, but the consequence of centralism and delusion. The unsuccessful concepts of social and economic centralization are a relic of the past, " said Trebesius.

"The succession of crises over the last few years highlight how many policy areas have been too tightly controlled. Flexibility is required. National states should be given the opportunity to leave programmes or to enter new co-operations as required. Nobody can predict where co-operation will make sense in ten or twenty years and we should leave this freedom of choice to future generations. "

In a recommendation to the President of the Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, Trebesius also struck a side blow against Guy Verhofstadt, a strong supporter of a European federal state:

"Mr. Juncker, you are perhaps already a step further than colleague Verhofstadt, who has not yet learned his Brexit lesson and who still wants to impose the centralist happiness on the citizens. It's time now that this Parliament bids its farewell to a policy of wishful thinking."

In the run-up to the 60th anniversary of the Rome Treaties, the White Paper of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker identifies five possible scenarios for the future of the EU, ranging from focusing the EU on its core role as a common market to much deeper integration. The aim of the White Paper is to stimulate a broader discussion on the further development of the European Union.

Press contact:
Michael Strauss
Press Officer German Delegation
+32 470 88 23 48
Michael.strauss@europarl.europa.eu

The ECR was created to take the EU in a new direction, according to the principles of our founding Prague Declaration. It is the third largest group in the European Parliament with 74 MEPs from 18 EU states.

For more information on the ECR, watch our promotional video at http://youtu.be/F5syQt1JuQI or visit our website: www.ecrgroup.eu