A row about a bigger EU
A controversial comment by the EU’s commissioner for enlargement, who is a German, has triggered a timely debate
THE European Union's commissioner for enlargement, Günter Verheugen, managed a grand slam among gaffes with a newspaper interview this week. By regretting that there was little chance of a referendum on enlargement in his home country, Germany, and by urging the EU's members not to leave to the commission what he called the “dirty work” of selling the enlargement idea to the public, he managed to belittle his job, upset his commission colleagues, irritate the German government, annoy almost every other EU government, and dismay all 13 countries queuing up to join the club.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “A row about a bigger EU”
From the September 9th 2000 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionDiscover more
Ursula von der Leyen has a new doctrine for handling the hard right
The boss of the European Commission embarks on a second term
Marine Le Pen spooks the bond markets
She threatens to bring down the French government, but also faces a possible ban from politics
The maths of Europe’s military black hole
It needs to spend to defend, but voters may balk
Ukraine’s warriors brace for a Kremlin surge in the south
Vladimir Putin’s war machine is pushing harder and crushing Ukrainian morale
Vladimir Putin fires a new missile to amplify his nuclear threats
The attack on Ukraine is part of a new era of missile warfare
A rise in antisemitism puts Europe’s liberal values to the test
The return of Europe’s oldest scourge