PARIS/BORDEAUX, FRANCE ¨C The European Union must hand back half of its powers, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Saturday, stepping up his criticism of the 28-nation bloc as he seeks to be elected head of France¡¯s conservative party this week.
Just a few weeks after he called for the suspension of France¡¯s participation in Europe¡¯s borderless Schengen region, Sarkozy pressed on with increasingly Euroskeptic proposals rare among the country¡¯s mainstream politicians.
¡°I want us to eliminate half of Europe¡¯s current powers,¡± Sarkozy said, adding that less than a dozen key policies including industrial policy, agriculture and research should remain. ¡°Everything else must be given back to member states.¡±
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