German lawmakers split on 'United States of Europe'

Senior conservative Volker Kauder said Schulz's European proposal posed "a danger to the EU and citizens' approval of Europe"

Senior members of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives on Saturday rejected the vision for a “United States of Europe” put forward by the Social Democrats (SPD), with whom they are hoping to form a governing coalition.

SPD leader Martin Schulz said on Thursday his party, which suffered its worst post-war election result in September, would only gain support by providing a clear vision of Europe, and called for a United States of Europe by 2025.

Merkel’s conservatives, who lost voters to the far-right due to their liberal migrant policy, want the SPD to agree to a last-ditch alliance with them