European Commission President Mr Romano Prodi today backed proposals for a debate on European integration, saying the bloc's past step-by-step approach to integration was redundant.
Speaking to an audience in Bavaria, the German region that campaigns hardest against what it perceives as the centralising tendencies of Brussels, Mr Prodi made clear the 15-nation bloc's future reform agenda should be deep and wide-ranging.
"For over 40 years we have been taking a step-by-step approach to European integration. The words 'ever closer union' are enshrined in our treaty but rarely have we paused to ask ourselves what they mean," Mr Prodi said, according to a copy of his speech released by his office.
"We have reached a point where the step-by-step approach towards an undefined goal will no longer work. It is time for us all to face the ultimate question of what the Union is aiming for," he said.
Mr Prodi's comments echoed a call last year by German Foreign Minister Mr Joschka Fischer for a debate on the finality of Europe.
That set alarm bells ringing in eurosceptic Britain as well as in France, Berlin's traditional European ally.