Italy news: German MEP brands Verhofstadt 'DELUDED' after row erupts
EbS Italy news: Hans-Olaf Henkel says Guy Verhofstadt is 'deluded'
Mr Henkel, who often argues that Brussels’ moves for further European integration was the driving force behind Brexit, this time warned the plot for “more Europe” will likely kill off an ailing European Union and eventually branded his counterpart “deluded”. Italy’s ongoing political crisis, which has seen it without an elected government for seven years and faces the most recent coalition attempts by Five Star Movement and Lega being vetoed, is also a symptom of “too much Europe”, according to Mr Henkel. He told MEPs: “The dramatic growth of Europe-critical parties is the result of ‘too much Europe!’ The withdrawal of Britain from the EU is the direct consequence of ‘too much Europe!’
According to Mr Verhofstadt, we owe the existence of democracy in Europe to the EU Hans-Olaf Henkel
“The state crisis in Italy is also due to ‘too much Europe’, especially due to the euro.” The Eurozone has become a hotly contested issue in Italy after leaked documents suggested the anti-establishment coalition could hold an opt-out referendum on membership of the EU’s single currency bloc. However, this never materialised in official coalition proposals. Mr Henkel pointed to the imbalance of the euro, adding: “No other country suffers from the prevailing one size fits all’ currency like Italy.” He added: “I am happy that we have had peace in Europe now for so many decades but that has nothing to do with the euro. It has something to do with democracy. There has never been a democracy that has attacked another. That is what we have to take care of, not the euro.”
In his usual passionate way, Mr Verhofstadt returned fire on the German MEP after being given the chance to speak after him. The former Belgian prime minister said: “First of all, I want to say to Mr Henkel, when he says democracy is important, naturally democracy is important. “Democracy is important just because of Europe. When there was no European Union there was utter desperation in Europe, fascism in Europe between the two world wars. “It is since we have the European Union that we have guaranteed democracy in the European Union, that is what we have achieved.”