Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki dropped an EU bombshell during an interview this week, as he suggested that 12 countries could form an alliance to defeat the Franco-German pursuit of a more integrated and centralised Europe.
Speaking at the German Marshall Fund Brussels Forum this week, Mr Morawiecki said that Mrs Merkel had lost her dominance in Europe since her dismal domestic election.
The revelation came in response to a question on whether the agenda in Brussels will change, given the surge in eurosceptic political parties.
He was pressed on whether he had “different ideas of changing Europe to the Franco-German motor which is more integration, more centralisation, more Europe”.
Mr Morawiecki fired back against this approach in Brussels, saying: “More Europe is simply a buzzword that is popular in certain countries.
“I heard just today that eight countries of the north in Europe – these are not from the Visegrad grouping but the Danes, the Dutch, they now oppose the domination of the Franco-German dimension.”
The Polish leader’s remarks was citing the report issued by the eight northern European countries that cautioned against Mr Macron and Mrs Merkel’s ambitious political plans.
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Sweden hit out at the Franco-German proposals for deepening eurozone integration.
They said the integration plans should focus on areas where member states are already close to a compromise.
This comes just as the German ‘grand coalition’ formed last week, which will prompt Chancellor Angela Merkel to continue talks about reforming the 19-country currency bloc with French President Emmanuel Macron.
Mr Morawiecki claimed these eight countries view Brussels with a sceptism similar to the Visegrad group, which includes Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia.
The ‘Northern Lights’ group, including the EU’s Nordic members, Ireland and the Netherlands, often joined forces with Britain to battle the EU dominance held by France and Germany.
Earlier this week, Poland reiterated its defiant stance against the EU and pledged not to unwind the country’s contested judicial reforms.
He had handed a document detailing changes in the judiciary to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.
The nearly 100-page document says that Poland’s judiciary is now shaped like those in some other EU members, including Spain and France.
However, Brussels said the laws undermine EU values and threatened judicial independence and have ordered Warsaw to rescind them.