Paris -Europe is going into hibernation, despite this week's launch of the euro single currency, because there are no new ideas to take it forward, the former French president, Mr Valery Giscard d'Estaing said.
Mr Giscard, president from 1974 to 1981 and one of the founding fathers of European integration, said in an interview with the weekly Le Nouvel Observateur that Europe needed a federal approach to build on its currency union.
"Let me say this loud and clear. I think Europe is entering a period of hibernation, because there are no new ideas, and current leaders are not motivated. We are led by a generation, apart from the Italians who have a faith in Europe, which prefers pragmatism. Pragmatism is a polite way of saying there is no vision," he said.