European Parliament President Warns EU 'May Not Survive 10 More Years'

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Europe

The very existence of the European Union is already threatened and no one can guarantee that it will retain its present form in ten years, according to European Parliament President Martin Schulz.

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In an interview with the Czech news website Novinky, European Parliament President Martin Schulz said that the existence of the European Union is currently under threat and that it remains to be seen whether it will retain its present form in a decade.

"The EU is being endangered and no doubt, the situation is extremely alarming. No one can say whether the EU will exist in its current form ten years later," Schulz said.

According to him, it is absurd to believe that each country can cope with the global challenges of the 21st century, including migration, terrorism, climate change and international crime."
Schulz lamented the fact that some EU member states are interested in weakening the EU, while at the same time accusing Brussels of failing to solve the main modern-day challenges.

As an example, he referred to some EU countries' unwillingness to grapple with the migration crisis, with only five countries, Greece, Italy, Austria, Germany and Sweden, currently bearing the burden.

"If we distributed one million refugees among the 508 million citizens of 28 EU countries, we would have coped with this problem," Schulz said.

On the resumption of negotiations with Turkey on its accession to the EU, Schulz stressed the necessity of openly discussing difficult issues on the matter, such as freedom of the press and the ongoing conflict between the Turkish government and the country's Kurdish minority.

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EU Fails to Reach Agreement With Britain on Reforms

In connection with UK Prime Minister Cameron's proposals to reform the EU, Schulz said that the best choice both for Brussels and London would be for the UK to remain a full-fledged member of the European Union. "Some of the requirements of the British Prime Minister David Cameron are very difficult to implement as they relate to the basic freedoms of the internal market," Schultz said, warning against restricting freedom of citizens' movement.
At the same time, he underscored the importance of British proposals aimed at transforming the EU into a more dynamic project, something that he said will hopefully lead to a mutually advantageous agreement.