European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker yesterday issued a rallying cry for unity after Brexit, saying the EU is not in danger of splitting up but must fight “galloping populism”.
In his annual State of the Union speech, Juncker unveiled plans including a European Union defence headquarters in a bid to find common ground after a year of crisis and division in the bloc.
“The European Union still does not have enough union,” Juncker told the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, adding that the “next 12 months are the crucial time to deliver”.
“There are splits out there and often fragmentation where we need further union — that is leaving space for galloping populism,” he added, in a speech that mixed German, French and English.
Juncker’s keenly-awaited speech comes two days before the 27 EU leaders meet without Britain in the Slovakian capital Bratislava, for a summit aimed at drawing up a roadmap for the future after the British vote to leave the bloc.
The head of the EU executive warned Britain it could not expect “a la carte” access to the EU’s single market if it brings back immigration controls, signalling a wider hardening of Europe’s position ahead of negotiations with London.
“We respect and at the same time regret the UK decision, but the European Union as such is not at risk,” said Juncker, who officially launched the Commission’s Brexit “task force” yesterday.
Juncker also hit back at rising nationalism and racism, referring to the recent killing of a Polish man in Britain with the words: “We Europeans can never accept Polish workers being harassed, beaten up or even murdered on the streets of Harlow.”
But his speech was greeted with disdain by populist leaders in the European Parliament, who accused the EU of failing to deal with a raft of problems including the migration crisis and a stagnant economy.
Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party which led the push for Brexit, criticised the focus on “military Europe” and said that “having listened to you, I am pleased we voted to leave”.
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen said Juncker had “refused to listen to the huge desire of European people to get their independence back”.
With EU nations deeply divided in particular by the continent’s biggest migration crisis since World War II, Juncker’s speech focused on security and the economy to find ways of working together post-Brexit.
“We must have a European HQ and...work towards a common military force,” said Juncker, referring to plans that have long faced British hostility and which will come up at today’s summit.
He stressed however that this should be “complementary with Nato” in reference to concerns that the EU will be treading on the toes of the US-led military alliance, which is also based in Brussels.
Juncker meanwhile proposed doubling the size of his signature investment plan to 630bn euros, and announced measures to help young people hit by the eurozone debt crisis.
He also called for a new EU border and coast guard force to start work quickly with 200 guards and 50 vehicles deployed in Bulgaria by October, after a year in which more than 1mn refugees and migrants reached the EU.
He announced an ambitious investment plan for African countries to stem the migration crisis, too.
But the difficulties of keeping Europe united were underscored on the eve of Juncker’s speech when Luxembourg’s foreign minister said Hungary should be suspended from the EU for treating refugees like “animals”.
Juncker’s performance in front of 751 MEPs was closely scrutinised amid speculation he has health concerns, despite strong denials by him and his spokespeople.
His speech sets the stage for today’s Bratislava summit where leaders will study a joint defence plan by France and Germany and other post-Brexit security plans.
In a summit invitation letter published late Tuesday, EU President Donald Tusk said it would be a “fatal error” for the EU to ignore the lessons of Brexit and urged the bloc to be less “politically correct” on migration.
European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker unveiled a raft of proposals yesterday to revive crumbling trust in the EU after the Brexit vote, ranging from a new defence HQ to job creation and tightening borders.
Here are the key points from his annual State of the Union speech to the European Parliament, in which he warned: “The next 12 months are decisive if we want to reunite our union.”
Juncker called for setting up an EU military headquarters to coordinate efforts toward creating a common military force with assets “in some cases owned by the EU.”
But he insisted the plans would not undermine Nato, which shares many members with the EU.
Juncker also suggested making EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini a fully-fledged foreign minister for the bloc and giving her a seat at the negotiating table in the Syrian conflict.
Juncker’s flagship investment fund finances projects deemed too risky by the EU’s European Investment Bank and is designed to overcome a massive shortfall in investment since the 2008 world financial crisis.
It works by leveraging about 21bn euros in seed money from the EU budget and EIB into loans that back European start-ups.
But EU states have been slow to pay in.
With the internet seen as a main driver for economic growth, Juncker proposed equipping the main public areas of every European city and village with free wireless internet access by 2020.
He is also pushing for Europe to convert to 5G mobile phone networks as early as 2018 in order to not lose ground to Asia and the United States.
Juncker announced plans for a radical overhaul of copyright law in Europe in a bid to catch up with the digital age and make the world’s largest trading bloc more globally competitive.
It will shake up how online news and entertainment is paid for in Europe.
Filmmakers and start-up investors fear it will hurt European innovation and help powerful media groups.
In a bid to encourage poor Africans to stay at home and avoid migrating to an overwhelmed Europe, Juncker launched an investment plan to stimulate Africa’s economic growth.
He says the plan could raise 44bn euros in investments, and up to 88bn euros if EU member states contribute.
More than 1mn people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa flooded into Europe last year, sowing divisions across the bloc and fuelling the rise of far-right parties.
In a bid to strengthen Europe’s external borders against the migrant influx, Juncker called for a new EU border and coastguard force to start work quickly with 200 guards and 50 vehicles deployed in Bulgaria by October.
The European Union will subject internet services like WhatsApp and Skype to similar rules that traditional telecommunications firms face, according to major reform proposals unveiled yesterday.
In a major victory for traditional phone companies, the European Commission, the executive arm of the 28-nation bloc, recommended tighter privacy and security for services like Facebook-owned message service WhatsApp and Microsoft’s video phone portal Skype.
The demand is part of a package of reforms proposed by commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, which includes a promise to provide free Wi-Fi in European towns by 2020.
The plan also includes a commitment to begin converting Europe to 5G networks as early as 2018 in order to not lose ground to Asia and the United States.
The proposal gives companies that invest in 5G networks longer running licenses to operate mobile services as well as the right to block rivals except in under-served areas.
“It’s a small revolution.
It’s no longer historic operators on one side and new entrants on the other, it’s those investing in the future and the others,” said Gregoire Verdeaux, head of international policy at Vodafone.
The demands on services such as Skype are unprecedented, but were underplayed by the commission.
But under the proposal, the commission would require companies like WhatsApp or Skype to offer emergency-calling services when customers dial traditional phone numbers as well as obey stricter privacy rules.
“The commission should use this opportunity to reduce regulation in the hugely competitive market for communications services, rather than adding complexity,” said James Waterworth, of the Computer & Communications Industry Association, a lobby group that represents Microsoft, Facebook and Google.