The European Parliament President, and German MEP, Martin Schulz, said: "We need a strong united Europe".

He said "other countries were ... in favour of more and a deeper integration of Europe" when Andrew Neil asked if the politicians were out of touch with the public feeling over a more federal union.

The president was asked about the cost of the monthly shifts of sittings between buildings in Brussels and Strasbourg.

They spoke after Jose Manuel Barroso, the European Commission President, told MEPs that Europe should become a "federation" of nation states to face the challenges of the 21st century in his State of the Union address in Strasbourg.

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