STRASBOURG (MNI) – Greece should remain in the Eurozone if it meets
its commitments, EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told EU
lawmakers on Wednesday.

“If Greece stands by its commitments, it should stay in the euro
area,” said Barroso.

While calling on Greece to “banish all doubts” about its commitment
to reform, Barroso also said that “stronger countries must leave no
doubts” about their commitment to solidarity.

“We must leave no doubt about the irreversibility of the euro,” he
said, saying it was “time to put an end to piecemeal responses and
muddling through.”

The Commission president also criticised Eurozone governments for
adding to the uncertainty about Greece’s membership of the currency bloc
and for undermining confidence in decisions taken at EU summits.

“We cannot belong to the same union and behave as if we don’t,” he
said.

In a broad-ranging speech setting out the Commission’s priorities
fro the year, Barroso laid out a bold vision for transforming the
European Union into a “federation of nation states” and said that the
Commission would present a blueprint for deeper economic and monetary
union in the autumn and a plan for the 27-country bloc’s further
evolution by 2014.

Deeper economic, fiscal and political integration is needed not
only to resolve the Eurozone crisis but to secure Europe’s position in
the world, he argued.

Ultimately EU countries will have to negotiate a new treaty, he
warned, as measures including jointly-backed bonds require steps that go
beyond the current treaty.

Plans for a banking union across the Eurozone can go ahead without
treaty changes, he said, announcing the Commission’s proposal for the
creation of a single supervisory mechanism that he said should extend to
all banks.

“Mere coordination is no longer adequate, we need to move to common
decisions,” he said.

Acknowledging that his vision for a federal Europe will require
lengthy discussions and preparations, the Commission President said that
though necessary, it should not be a distraction.

“We need a real debate. No one will be forced to come along, and no
one will be kept out, but speed will not be dictated by the slowest,”
said Barroso.

–Brussels Newsroom, pkoh@marketnews.com; +324-952-28374
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