Full steam ahead: Brussels draws up plan for 'EU navy'
By Justin Stares in Brussels
(Filed: 21/05/2006)The European Commission has drawn up plans to set up a European coastguard, which critics fear is a back-door attempt by Brussels to create an EU navy with its own powers to stop and search shipping.
Plans to upgrade the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) into a fully-fledged coastguard are buried in a document revising European Union (EU) transport policy that is due to be published next month.
They come on the back of other "empire building" moves by Brussels, including a planned EU army, a common foreign policy and diplomatic service, and a European-wide policy on energy.
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