BCO latest: Former Belgian prime minister says EU must reform whatever the outcome in UK referendum
The European Union in its current form cannot survive, the former Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt has told the BCO conference in Amsterdam.
Verhofstadt, who is now a member of the European Parliament, said there were only two possibilities for the EU - to go backwards or jump forwards to the creation of a real federal union in Europe.
Verhofstadt told delegates he believed the European Union today is a loose confederation of 28 member states with a variety of different types of membership, picking and choosing what they want to participate in.
He said: 鈥淭he reality is the European Union doesn鈥檛 exist, it is a confederation of 28 member states. Talking about the European Union as a superstate is really a joke and on top of that everyone can pick and choose their corporations inside the European Union and it is what Britain is doing 鈥� Britain is not part of the Eurozone, Britain is not part of the Schengen area.
鈥淚鈥檓 always asking myself what the hell are they going to ask in the British referendum that isn鈥檛 already in all these policies.鈥�
As an example Verhofstadt said that when the fiscal compact treaty, which is linked to the Eurozone and to which the UK is not party to, was discussed, he entered the room and found the British delegation to be the first ones there: 鈥淪o that鈥檚 the way we work. Even when you鈥檙e out you鈥檙e in and if you鈥檙e in we want you out and that鈥檚 the problem of the day.鈥�
He said that it is 鈥渧ery clear that we need another way to go forward with the continent鈥� and that the UK鈥檚 referendum on EU membership 鈥渕ay be the start of a two-speed Europe and maybe this is not so bad as at the moment we have a 28-speed Europe鈥�.
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