Barroso says all available powers must be used
Instead it is necessary to use whatever powers are available to the EU, he said. “When putting out a fire you do not look to create better equipment but you use whatever is available...we must respond to this emergency,” he told a conference of the European People’s Party.
He will unveil ideas for deeper economic governance in the euro area to a sitting of the European Parliament next week and this may include proposals for treaty change, he said.
But any changes to the treaties must benefit the single currency and the single market — “one should not be furthered at the expense of the other”.
Mr Barroso referred to concerns about a deepening divide between eurozone members and the other EU member states such as Britain, Denmark and Sweden, as well as many of the newer member states.
“The EU has developed in a spirit of openness for the last 60 years and this must not be changed. We can deepen integration without deepening divisions between those who are in the euro area and those who are not,” he said.
Those countries that have not adopted the euro have a special responsibility — “not belonging is the deviation from the rule and when everyone accepts this, it should be possible to make changes”.
Mr Barroso also had a message for the citizens, especially those in Ireland, Portugal and Greece that are in a programme. “The sacrifices are far from over. We have to speak the truth, the message of truth is what will win back out citizens.”
There was a massive rebalancing going on in Europe, involving what he called a seismic shift in the social market economy, a rebalancing of the imbalances between different areas of the economy, between some parts of Europe and the rest of the world and even imbalances within member states — which were at the root of the current problems.
