German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday that she would like Europe to have its own army, reported dpa. "We need to get closer to a common army for Europe," she told the mass-circulation Bild newspaper when asked how the EU would look in the next 50 years. "The European Commission will be more effective and have clearly defined responsibilities," she added. Merkel rejected the idea that Europe would merge into a single state. "Thee will not be a European federal state, we will maintain the diversity of the nation states," she said. Merkel was speaking ahead of a weekend gathering of EU leaders in Berlin to mark the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, the forerunner of today's European Union. During two days of celebrations, the leaders will commit themselves to a Berlin Declaration, listing the achievements of the 27-nation bloc and outlining its goals for the future. Merkel told Bild that the essence of Europe could be described in a single word - "Tolerance." She also lobbied for a European constitution, a draft of which has been in political limbo since its rejection by French and Dutch voters in 2005 referendums. "We need a EU constitutional treaty which is suited to the decision-making mechanism of a larger EU," said the chancellor, who has made reviving the document a key goal of Germany's EU presidency.
