Creighton calls for federal Europe built on diversity

European affairs minister Lucinda Creighton has called for a federal Europe rather than member states limping along making decisions for short-term national gain.

Her comments came as a former IMF official predicted that growth in Ireland would rise to 3% in the coming years.

Speaking at the MacGill Summer School in Donegal, Ms Creighton said a true banking union and eurobonds must form part of the redesign of the EU.

Ms Creighton also said there should be empathy with Greece. “We cannot continue to limp along, with 27 member states, struggling to take decisions in an environment which forces them to value short- term national gain over medium and long-term Europe-wide gain.”

She said she was not advocating a federation based on the United States of America model, but rather one built on the diversity of its EU members. She added: “It would reduce the potential for countries to veto important decisions and make it easier to progress vital ‘big ticket’ initiatives like a European bank resolution scheme, a bank deposit scheme and a mechanism for debt mutualisation such as Eurobonds.”

She said it was time to put in place the architecture required to secure the currency — a strong democratically accountable centre, an adequate central budget and a true banking union.

Earlier, former IMF economist Patrick Lenain predicted that Ireland’s growth could return to 3% over the coming years.