Below are the excerpts of the interview of German Finance Minister Schauble with Der Spiegel.The minister says that we may be on the cusp of history and a United States of Europe may actually happen sooner than we think
SPIEGEL:You want nothing less than a United States of Europe.
Schäuble: Even though the term is used repeatedly, it doesn’t make it any better. No, the Europe of the future will not be a federal state based on the model of the United States of America or the Federal Republic of Germany. It will have its own structure. It’s an extremely exciting venture.
SPIEGEL: It sounds more like a new experiment, not unlike the introduction of the euro. And yet you want to transfer as much power as possible to Europe?
Schäuble: That may be. Of course, a lot of people in Europe are worried about the future. But as far as I can see, the vast majority of Germans and people in other countries are pro-European. Aside from relatively small movements, there are no nationalist tendencies.
SPIEGEL: In Germany, the Federal Constitutional Court has imposed tight restrictions on relinquishing further sovereignty. Given the German constitution, how much more European integration is possible?
Schäuble: If the things that I’ve just outlined were in fact implemented and we concluded that the limits of the constitution had been reached, the Constitutional Court would be correct in saying: There’s no problem with transferring more rights to Brussels, but the German people will have to make that decision.
SPIEGEL: Are you saying that we will soon have a referendum in Germany?
Schäuble: I don’t know when that will happen, and I doubt anyone does. But I assume that it’ll happen sooner than I would have thought a few months ago. At the EU summit at the end of this week, the heads of four European institutions plan to present concrete proposals for greater integration. We’ll see what happens after that.
SPIEGEL: You believe that the Germans will vote on a new constitution within the next five years?
Schäuble: A few months ago, I would have said: In five years? Never! But now I’m not so sure. Do you want to know why?
SPIEGEL: Yes, please.
Schäuble: Many in Germany said that (former US President) Ronald Reagan was crazy when he stood at the Brandenburg Gate in 1987 and said: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” And then it happened two years later. At the time, I too didn’t believe that German partition would soon come to an end. In the spring of 1989, I had just become the new interior minister in Bonn. The new US ambassador introduced himself to me and predicted that the Wall could come down in the next three years. I replied: “I would have doubted that a few months ago, but now I would say that with a little luck, it’ll happen in the next 10 years.” And how long did it really take? Less than half a year.