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
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