EU should state objectives - Patten

Chris Patten: The EU should state its aims

The European Union should draw up a set of objectives to stave off fears that it is developing into a federal superstate, according to EU Commissioner Chris Patten.

Mr Patten, the commissioner for external affairs, issued the call for clarity on Monday.

We are not talking about handing power down from some federal body, I'm not in favour of a federal Europe

Chris Patten

He told the BBC: "Most people ... are concerned that they simply don't know where the enterprise is going, that there is never any destination described, except for the general one of ever-closer political union."

"'Where is this all going to end?' they say. What I have argued is that the answer to that nightmare is what some people regard as the nightmare, that is to specify precisely what the responsibilities of nation states, or regional states and so on should be."

"We are not talking about handing power down from some federal body, I'm not in favour of a federal Europe.

"I think it would be much better if we were to specify precisely what the European Union should be."

Mr Patten also re-stated his desire for a massive overhaul of the way the union distributes its disaster relief.

Hurricane Mitch struck over two years ago

He said that over 20 billion euros worth of aid which had already been committed to disaster relief had yet to be spent, and blamed meddling from member states which he says impedes the Commission in meeting its commitments.

Citing one example he said that of the £250m allocated to deal with the havoc caused in Central America by Hurricane Mitch, that not a single penny had yet been spent in over two years.

Mr Patten said: "We have either got to increase our resources for managing aid or we have to cut what we are doing."