Blair calls for EU renewal, economic reform


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair challenged the European Union on Thursday to renew itself through economic reform to meet the challenges of the global age, saying the bloc's constitutional and budget crisis was an opportunity for change. 

Blair told the European Parliament in a fighting speech setting out Britain's priorities for its six-month presidency of the bloc from July 1 that it was wrong to describe the choice as being between political union and a mere free trade area. 

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