President Nicolas Sarkozy of France said Thursday that individual governments need to cooperate to keep control of European Union budgets, rather than hand power to a "supra-national" body.
"The reform of Europe is not a march towards supra-nationality," Sarkozy told thousands of supporters in the city of Toulon. "The integration of Europe will go the inter-governmental way because Europe needs to make strategic political choices."
Sarkozy is facing challenges from a eurozone debt crisis and is pushing, along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, to overhaul the Maastricht Treaty that founded the European Union. He said he and Merkel would form joint proposals to fix the treaty's flaws, but said Europe needs to change in order to balance its budget.
"Europe is no longer a choice. It is a necessity. But the crisis has revealed its weaknesses and its contradictions. Europe must be rethought," Sarkozy said.
"Let us not hide it, Europe may be swept away by the crisis if it doesn't get a grip, if it doesn't change."
Sarkozy said the European Central Bank needs to make independent decisions to act to resist deflation, according to Reuters. Sarkozy faces a reelection fight in April, and is positioning himself to be seen as a strong leader in order to prepare the country for the proposals on governing the euro zone to be discussed at the Dec. 9 EU summit.
