Top Eurocrats have been warned European Union member states will not agree to further expansions of the bloc until key issues have been addressed in full. British MEP Steven Woolfe insisted failure in Brussels to help resolve youth unemployment or clarify their position on monetary harmonisation will have EU members resist more integration. Speaking to Euronews, Mr Woolfe said: “Not only have we just expanded dramatically over the last few years, but they are also still considering expanding into other European countries after not solving all the problems of unemployment for the youth, whether you’ve got a banking union across the European Union.
“They still expand without having solved the problem. Nobody is listening or learning from the past.”
During his State of the Union address in September 2017, Jean-Claude Juncker s called for greater EU integration, including an EU president combining the role with that of the head of the European Council, as well as a eurozone finance minister, a Brussels intelligence agency, European anti-terrorism prosecutor and an agency to enforce labour standards.
Arch-Europhile MEP Guy Verhofstadt – who also serves as Brexit coordinator for the European Parliament – backed Mr Juncker’s calls for a more united EU in the aftermath of Britain’s decision to leave the bloc.
Mr Vehofstadt, who is running to take over the leadership of the European Commission when Jean-Claude Juncker retires in October, reiterated he will seek to create a “stronger European Union’ in his pitch for the top job.
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Mr Woolfe also predicted Eastern European countries will be the most resistant to attempts from Brussels to extend their oversight.
He continued: “They thought they were coming in to become independent nations with a real, good view of how they could run their own countries.
“Now they are coming up with the bulwark of the European Union saying, ‘hang on a minute, if you’re going to get money from us, you have to do as you’re told.’
“And they don’t like that.”
Polish eurosceptic rallied in Warsaw on Wednesday to voice their dissent over Poland’s membership of the European Union and to demand the country is allowed to withdraw from the bloc.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki hosted a one-day summit with the leaders of the newest 13 EU member states after which he urged Brussels to relinquish more power to national governments.
Mr Morawiecki said: “Where it doesn’t have to, the European Union should leave member countries to their own competences.
“We say this with a single Central European voice.”
Estonia also appeared to send a sign of dissent toward Brussels after the country’s controversial government authorised EU flags to be removed from the local government.
Estonian parliamentary speaker Henn Polluaas claimed he had the flags removed to reflect that Estonia no longer holds the EU’s rotating presidency, which it did for six months in 2017.
Mr Henn is a member of the controversial, anti-immigration EKRE party, which was recently brought into the coalition government.
The new government, which took office on Monday, is comprised of a three-way coalition led by the liberal Estonian Centre Party – who negotiated away cabinet seats in exchange for support.