German Chancellor Mr Gerhard Schroeder today urged fellow leaders of the European left to back a call for stronger central powers for the European Union that has stirred controversy throughout Europe.
"We need...to strengthen our European institutions and rigorously further develop the Europe an integration process," Mr Schroeder told government and party leaders attending a Berlin congress of the Party of European Socialists (PES), an umbrella organisation for 19 national left-of-centre parties.
Noting that the leadership of his own German Social Democrats (SPD) had earlier endorsed the policy statement he made last week, calling for a strong European government and a parliament will full power over the EU budget, Mr Schroeder urged his sceptical comrades to join in a vigorous debate.
He appeared tacitly to acknowledge the cool reception his proposals have had in France, Britain and other countries suspicious that a centralised Europe may be German-dominated.
"I hope that this debate on the future will be enriched in the coming weeks and months by substantial contributions from as many as possble of the social democratic parties of Europe," Mr Schroeder said. He also stressed the success of the EU in reataining the multiplicity of national identities in Europe.
PES delegates will endorse an already drafted Berlin Declaration calling for reform of the EU to keep it viable after it expands into formerly Communist eastern Europe. But the plan is considerably less detailed than those put forward by Schroeder and the German SPD.