Analysis: Europe's forked road ahead

Romano Prodi (right) and Lionel Jospin outline views on future of EU

By European affairs correspondent William Horsley

The heated debate among European leaders about the future of the European Union took a new turn on Tuesday when President of the European Commission Romano Prodi said that the Commission itself must be given extra powers.

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Romano Prodi

The prospect of the European Union growing into a much more powerful force in world affairs took several steps forward with the proposals made this week by the French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin.

He said the EU must be a model of society, and its member-states must have much more unified policies on taxation, industry, employment, law and order, foreign and defence affairs to project that model to the rest of the world.

The President of the Commission, Romano Prodi then stepped in, saying that to achieve that goal the Commission itself must have much stronger powers to represent the whole EU population - powers over both economic and foreign affairs, with a new EU-wide tax being levied to bind the union and its citizens.

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That created a storm in the UK, where the Conservative opposition, ever critical of the EU, attacked both Mr Prodi's and Mr Jospin's speeches as evidence of a will to create a federal European superstate and take away the UK's right to govern itself.

The Labour leader and Prime Minister Tony Blair insists he can win the argument and keep the independence of Europe's nation-states.

The election result will determine what approach the next UK Government takes to membership of the euro, and decisions on the future of Europe.

Differing goals

People all over the EU have now heard a confusing array of proposals from Germany, France and the UK for various forms of European federation, confederation, or union of member nations.

There are deep splits among the 15 present member-states about how much more power should go to a European level of government, and what the future structure of the union should be.

The debate was meant to clarify matters before up to 12 more states, mostly from central and eastern Europe, join the EU in the next few years.

Already it has shown up how far apart are the goals which the various national governments are aiming at.