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EU polls could be boon for conservatives

May 16, 2019 00:00:00

PRAGUE, May 15 (AP): The European Parliament is expected to be a different legislature after next week's election and leading Czech conservative lawmaker Jan Zahradil is hoping that voters embrace the idea of a scaled-back European Union.


"I'd call it a multi-speed European Union with more space for the national governments and parliaments," Zahradil told The Associated Press in an interview. "We want the European Union to simply do less and to do it better."




Zahradil said his main objection to the EU is "a permanent effort to transfer the solving of all problems (from the national) to the European level, even though it's not effective."



He wants to replace the current EU mantra of "one size fits all" with a looser model of European integration.


"For example, if Germany and France agree to harmonize their taxes, that's fine but they should not force the others to join them," he said.

The group also wants the currencies in the countries outside the eurozone to become official EU tender alongside the euro, and doesn't want a majority vote in the EU to replace the unanimous vote in foreign affair issues because "it would only further increase tensions and divide the European Union rather than unite it."





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