Italy Supports Transformation of EU Into Federation of StatesItalian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi has written to his German counterpart Johannes Rau endorsing the latter's views on the transformation of the European Union into a federation of nation states, presidential officials said on April 7.They issued the contents of the letter, which referred to Rau's Wednesday speech before the European Parliament, in which the German president suggested that the EU constitution should emphasize the creation of a "federation of nation states" rather than a "centralized superstate." Ciampi said that Rau's intervention as "an act of trust in the dynamism of the construction of Europe," arguing that such a federation would "guarantee the diversity of Europe while promoting and defining the values which unite it." "You have indicated the way ahead with authority and couched it in a language which I recognize," Ciampi wrote. Italy intends to "contribute to the completion of this great political project," the Italian head of state said, adding that " we will become more aware of the extraordinary progress which has been made in this direction in a few months, when the euro starts circulating as a real currency." Ciampi concluded by saying that he looked forward to meeting Rau in Verbania in northern Italy in June, at a summit of central European heads of state. "We will be able to discuss together the subject of civil, political, economic and social rights as a founding element of a European identity as outlined in the charter of basic rights," Ciampi said, referring to the charter adopted in principle at the EU summit in Nice last year. |
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