Antonio Hernández Mancha on Europe's federal goal

The US needs Europe as a strong partner, writes lawyer and former conservative politician Antonio Hernández Mancha. To fulfil this task the European Union must adopt a federal structure as soon as possible, he contends in the left-liberal daily El País: "If Europe doesn't learn from the crisis and decide to take the same step towards a federal union the Americans took in 1789, the 'old Europe' will surely disappear as a political unit. It would just be a matter of time. The new-born Lisbon treaty will possibly have to be reformed on the path to advancing the Union. We need the US and the US needs Europe. The EU was viewed with suspicion on the other side of the ocean, above all after the heroic step of adopting the single currency. The fear was born that this Europe which North America had freed from two world wars could now become a terrible opponent with its euro. With the crisis this has changed and the US is realising that it cannot take on China alone. It needs us as a third pillar in the triangle to prevent a new Cold War between the two blocks."

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