"Secretly" what do you think this is; "the Elders of Zion"? No the Germans are quite open about seeking closer integration. In fact it's a important element in why Merkel has gotten a lot of internal criticism in CDU, because she haven't been active enough in seeking close integration as a tool to deal with the crisis.
It's secret in the sense that when the euro was introduced they didn't say "the idea here is to plunge Europe into economic disaster so we can turn it into a proper federation". Cause then it's unlikely that it would have gone through.
And according to Prodi this is actually what they thought, more or less. Sweden's biggest, very pro-EU, paper reprimanded him for stating it publicly. Ah. euro-lovers. They're a weird bunch.
There's a difference between arrange a economical crisis and use a already existing one to reach ones goals.
...and honestly you need to be idiot if you (general you not you personal) think that the economic crisis have been intentional cause by any sitting government (they had no interest in losing power). And not to be rude and I say this as another small state citizen, I'm rather sure that Prodi don't really care that much about what a Swedish newspaper thinks. EU have never hidden that they seeks an ever closer union, in fact they have written in down from the first treaties and if that come as a shock or surprise to anybody, well I suggest maybe they should read or listen to what have been said for the last 55 years. In fact it's what I find ridiculous about EU opposition and the belief that there's some kind of major EU conspiracy, EU and EEC has played with open card about wanting a full federation from day one, and if any state disagreed with that they could stay out of or leave EU.
The EU bureaucrats aren't losing power over this (if anything, they're gaining power).
You seem to be very much missing the point though.
I'm sure some Eurocrats have been open. But Prodi did not say, back when he supported the euro in the late 90s, that he did so because he thought it would lead to an economic crisis that would in turn prompt common taxation.
When Sweden joined the EU the yes-side argued that joining the EU in no way implied joining the euro. A decade later they said that being in the EU we had to join the euro. However, that, in no way, implied common fiscal policy and even suggesting that was scaremongering populism. And now, all of these people are saying that a common fiscal policy is necessary.
This is how EU integration has worked for a long time. The boundaries are always pushed a little further.
