Ex-voorzitter EP Borrell: 'EU te groot en te divers' (en)
The European Union i is too big and too diverse to be able to rally around common political projects needed to survive, the former president of the European Parliament i has said.
Speaking at the Menéndez Pelayo International University in Santander, Spain last week, Spanish socialist MEP Josep Borrell said, "we are suffering from a crisis of heterogeneity and growth".
"We are many and with many different visions of the world, so our will is not unanimous and the political project is yet to be defined," he said according to Spanish press reports, adding that "you cannot grow from six to 27 with impunity."
He argued that the EU lacked a common political project, leaving one asking "what are we united for?"
"Alone, the European countries are impotent. If we want to survive we need to unite," he warned.
Mr Borrell held the presidency of the European Parliament from July 2004 to January 2007.