European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday delivered his 2016 State of the Union address before members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
Advertisement
In a speech Wednesday, EU President Jean-Claude Juncker said the rules are about modernizing and increasing access – while also protecting content creators.
When her pro-Brexit trade minister, Liam Fox, was reported as suggesting Britain should leave the EU’s customs union, May’s office at 10 Downing Street said no decision had yet been made.
With the British vote to leave having shaken the EU, Mr Juncker proposed a series of measures created to restore confidence that Europe could deliver real prosperity and security, not the ongoing austerity and uncontrolled migration of recent years.
He said “we should admit we have many unresolved problems”, and asked an existential question about the future, if any, for the European Union – “will Europe disappear from the global scene?”
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.
Juncker gave no further details although it is expected that any such European Union military headquarters would also be based in Brussels, home to all its major institutions.
Set up last year to run for three years until 2018 with a target of mobilizing 315 billion euros of investment, Mr. Juncker will confirm the aim of doubling the amount and extending EFSI for three further years.
The head of the European Union executive urged Britain to trigger its formal divorce as quickly as possible so that both sides can move on to face the challenges of a risky and uncertain world.
However, Brexit champion and former Ukip leader Nigel Farage slammed Juncker’s proposals.
“Any negotiation will be a hard negotiation”, he said.
Plans for an EU Army are the brainchild of Hungary’s right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who believes that Europe should strengthen its military capabilities to bolster security.
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.
HSBC’s Flint, who is on a panel advising the government on post-Brexit trading terms, said it would take several years for a bank in London to complete the “enormous task” of setting up a new subsidiary in the EU.
Leaders of every European Union country, apart from the United Kingdom, will begin to gather on Thursday, September 15 in the Slovakian capital Bratislava to discuss the future of the bloc.
Advertisement
Her aides and ministers have told reporters the government will not offer a “running commentary” on talks her European counterparts say can not begin until Britain triggers the exit.
