‘From migrants to preventing economic chaos.. EU is all talk and NO ACTION!’ – Verhofstadt

The influential MEP accused them of “evading their responsibility” by walking away from the negotiation table early at recent European Council summits.

Mr Verhofstadt, a former Belgian prime minister, suggested the EU’s current group of leaders had not done enough to strengthen the Eurozone or bring an end to the migrant crisis.

He implored European Council President Donald Tusk to “wake up” in his passionate plea to Brussels.

“We are waiting already two years,” he blasted, pointing out the promise to deliver 10,000 border guards and shakeup of the EU’s border protection agency Frontex had so far not happened.

His assault on EU leaders moved on, he added: “It has now been 10 years since the outbreak of the financial crisis and no new governance systems for the Eurozone have been put in place.

“Wake up Mr Tusk, the next financial crisis is knocking on our door.”

The lack of progress on introducing Emmanuel Macron’s proposed Eurozone budget, finance minister and new safety net demonstrate a “dereliction of duty” by the European Council, according to Mr Verhofstadt.

He said: “Mr Tusk, the way you and your colleagues in the Council evade their responsibility is a dereliction of duty sleep walking to a new financial catastrophe.”

The Belgian MEP asked: “When are you going to change your methods?

“When are you going to lock your colleagues into a meeting room – no new clothes, no new underwear – until they have taken their responsibility, until they have reformed our migration policies?”

At last week’s European summit, leaders called an early end to a number of crunch meetings.

Mr Macron, Angela Merkel, Belgian prime minister Charles Michel and his Luxembourg neighbour Xavier Bettell were spotted in Brussels main square Grand Place enjoying beer and chips after the shortest summit dinner in decades.

Over dinner that last little over two hours, EU leaders decided not enough Brexit progress has been made and shelved plans for an emergency summit in November.

The following day, they failed to make any real movement on Eurozone and migration issues before shifting their agenda to an EU-Asia summit in the afternoon.

Their short sessions come are a huge contrast to previous EU summits, which often rattle on into the early hours or “until the coffee goes cold”, according to one Brussels insider.

In June, leaders remained locked in stern migration talks with Italy and Hungary into the early hours.

They all emerged bleary-eyed at close to 5am, having reached a fudged agreement on the shared responsibility for illegal migrants across the EU.