News


OCTOBER 2016

European leaders discuss plans to revive enthusiasm for the EU

At a conference in Paris, Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said the U.K. decision to leave the European Union has been a wake-up call for a lot of European leaders and governments have to review what works and what doesn't in the EU.

Bettel also suggested that European Union governments should consider imposing borders controls for 24 hours to shock voters into appreciating the value of visa-free travel. This would show people what it means to wait two hours to get into Italy or Spain, to have controls everywhere, to block all exchanges. He admitted that what he said was terrible, but it would be good for people to understand.

On the other hand, British Prime Minister, Theresa May, has announced she'll trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty before the end of March to set in motion Britain's exit. Bettel, who met May in September, said he had the impression the British government had not foreseen Brexit.
European leaders met in Brussels the week of October 17 to discuss plans to revive enthusiasm for the EU across the continent after the U.K. vote to leave.