'United States of Europe': Former French PM Calls for EU Powerhouse to Rival US and China

Former French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal has called for the creation of a 'United States of Europe', proposing a new economic powerhouse capable of competing with the United States and China.

Attal unveiled the proposal on Thursday, 17 September, arguing that Europe's existing 27-country structure has reached its limits and that a smaller group of willing nations should move towards much deeper economic integration.

Attal Wants a European Powerhouse

Attal said Europe was entering an era dominated by what he described as 'continent-powers', where economic, technological and military influence increasingly depends on scale.

He argued that individual European states risk losing influence against the United States, China and Russia unless they combine more of their economic power.

'We must build the United States of Europe,' Attal wrote as he outlined the proposal.

However, his vision would not immediately transform the entire European Union into a single country.

Instead, Attal proposed an economic and ecological federation formed initially by a 'hard core' of European countries willing to integrate more quickly.

He suggested approaching Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, followed by countries including Spain, Portugal, Poland and Nordic states.

The first group could contain eight or 10 countries.

One Economy, Common Debt

Attal's plan goes substantially beyond existing EU economic arrangements.

He identified 21 barriers he wants removed, including differences in taxation, employment law, banking, telecommunications, agricultural rules and business regulations.

Participating countries would work towards common taxes, labour rules and business law, alongside a shared budget and Treasury capable of issuing common debt.

'With the United States of Europe, I propose to create a single economy,' Attal said.

He argued that deeper integration would allow European companies to compete more effectively against American and Chinese rivals in artificial intelligence, quantum technology, energy, space and defence.

Attal claimed that, if successful, the bloc could eventually become the world's leading power.

His proposal would also allow the group to respond collectively to economic pressure from the United States or China while pursuing a unified industrial strategy.

Britain Could Eventually Join

Despite Britain leaving the European Union following the Brexit referendum, Attal explicitly left the door open for the UK.

He said he hoped Britain would 'one day' find its place in the project if it freely chose to participate.

Attal also proposed simultaneous referendums across countries seeking to join the new bloc if governments failed to reach an agreement themselves.

He argued that the project could be established in less than a decade, rather than requiring generations of political integration.

Under his vision, national governments would retain control over areas including their armed forces, diplomacy, domestic security and justice. France would also retain control of its nuclear deterrent.

The proposal stops short of creating a single European state modelled directly on the United States. Instead, Attal is calling for participating countries to surrender significant areas of economic independence in exchange for greater collective power.

His argument is that Europe now faces a choice between remaining divided in an increasingly competitive world or building a bloc large enough to challenge the economic influence of Washington and Beijing.