We can expect the desire of some EU members for a multi-speed bloc

RIGA - During a Saeima European Affairs Committee meeting today, Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics (Unity) said that it can be expected that some EU members will push for different speeds of integration in several areas.

Rinkevics was answering a question from one of the committee members regarding the recent ''path towards unity'' plans, put forward by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

Pointing out to the possibility of having a system of different integration speeds, the minister said that such an approach should be accepted by all taking into account the cooperation level which has already been achieved. He added that emphasis on common cooperation within the EU must be put on what has already been achieved, and that the current system cannot be torn down. However, he said that it cannot be ruled out that in the future there might be groups of members who wish closer political cooperation in some of the various spheres.

Rinkevics pointed out to the eurozone as an example, and said that there are already some member states which have not joined the eurozone, and that some members, for example, could choose for closer defense cooperation.

He also said that Latvia has an overall positive view towards Juncker's proposals, as the European Commission has worked to put forward five possible scenarios. Rinkevics added that Latvia certainly does not wishes to lose the positive things achieved by the EU. ''The most important is for the EU not to back down from the positive aspects which have been achieved,'' he emphasized.

Rinkevics said that this is why the second scenario, which would reduce the union to just a single market, is certainly not acceptable to Latvia, as it would impact many area where much has been achieved - common foreign policy, cooperation in defense, education and the job market,'' he said.

''We have always emphasized that we see the EU as a strong union of nations, which is why Latvia also cannot support the fifth scenario, which would basically lead to federalization,'' he added.

As reported, European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said Wednesday that Britain's departure would not hold the EU back, as he unveiled plans for the bloc's post-Brexit future.

Juncker laid out five possible scenarios including reducing the European Union to just a single market, returning some powers to member countries and creating a "multi-speed" Europe.

"However painful and regrettable Brexit may be, it cannot stop the European Union on its march to the future," Juncker said as he presented his White Paper to the European Parliament in Brussels.

Juncker said he hoped EU leaders could draw their first conclusions based on his suggestions by the end of the year, and decide on a course of action by European Parliament elections in June 2019.

The plans have already met resistance from poorer, newer Eastern European states like Poland which fear they could be frozen out by the traditional "big guns" of France and Germany, particularly on issues of immigration, the AFP writes.

Along with allowing integration at different speeds, another of Juncker's five "pathways to unity" is to concentrate on finalizing the EU's single market of what will be 450 million people after Brexit, in a bid to end the economic crises that have beset the euro currency.

Further scenarios would be to defy the eurosceptics and follow the dream of a fully federalized Europe, or to follow the American model and focus on a reduced agenda which leaves lesser matters to member states.

Finally he suggests keeping the status quo, with EU countries trying to stay more unified, but with the downside that it would mean more bitter arguments on issues like migration.