The Finnish Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade emphasised that Europe should not be allowed to divide into two distinctive spheres – north and south.
"Let’s not build new mental Berlin walls by drawing artificial borders within Europe. The whole purpose of integration is to break barriers, not build them", Stubb said.
Stubb estimated that in the future the division into the euro-ins and euro-outs will become more important than the north-south divide. As the grave financial and economic challenges are forcing the euro area to integrate further, the Member States outside the euro need to define their position in relation to a deepening euro area. Stubb estimated that in the medium term we will have a Union divided into the euro-ins and only a handful of euro-outs.
"The euro is the centre of gravity in the Union, its anchor. There is an undeniable division. But at the same time we must be very careful in managing the relationship between the ins and the outs. We will all lose if we don’t get this balance right", Stubb said.
Stubb, who wrote his PhD on flexible integration, pointed out that in managing differentiation, the Union needs to find a good balance between flexibility and order. We cannot have a Union of 28 different arrangements, where every country just takes what it likes.
With PM Cameron's recent speech, the United Kingdom has set out one path. Stubb pointed out that this will be a demanding road. "I only hope that the end result is a Britain that is at peace with its membership", he added.
Press release
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