Backers say the legislation is needed to bring Europe’s regulatory frameworks up to speed with the internet age.
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Juncker’s speech has been hotly anticipated as the European Union struggles with multiple crises, including the influx of migrants over the past year, continuing unemployment and financial insecurity.
But a few minutes later, he acknowledged that Europe had a problem with terrorism, noting that the continent had been the victim of 14 terrorist attacks in the past year. “And we are getting smaller”, Juncker said, adding that only standing together, however hard that is, can fix the problem.
The proposals came in the form of two large packages of legislation from the EU’s executive arm. “The date, place and reason why the person is moving across borders will all be listed”.
The hotspots will be open to all European Union citizens – although given the budget, it’s unlikely many of them will be able to get a signal without a long walk.
Now Mr Juncker has intervened.
But he insisted the plans would not undermine North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, which shares many members with the EU.
Mr Juncker addressed MEPs in Strasbourg.
He specifically said the European Union must do more in the defense field, and no longer be overly dependent on the U.S. He said it should start with the creation of an European Union military headquarters and work toward a common military force. “This should be to complement North Atlantic Treaty Organisation”, he said, also outlining proposals for a common defence fund.
Mr Verhofstadt will represent the parliament in negotiations once the British government launches the Brexit process.
There are fears the European Union is facing paralysis until Britain decides to move.
The Commission President condemned the racially-motivated killing of a Polish worker in Essex.
Speaking in the debate, Ian Hudghton MEP said: “The EU is not flawless, President Juncker accepts that, and I welcome some of the initiatives that he mentioned to tackle challenges such as in the area of job creation and connectivity, and social justice”. He insisted that “in Europe we do not accept powerful companies getting illegal backroom deals on their taxes”. “It can not be forced”, Juncker said. “We will be very strict in terms of who can cross our borders and this is something that we are looking to implement by the end of the year”, he said in his annual policy speech.
Junker also proposed to double the size of an investment fund to 707 billion dollars by 2022 to mitigate the effects of a sharp fall in spending since the global financial crisis and assist development projects across the bloc.
EDiMA, a trade group backed by top USA and European tech firms ranging from Airbnb and Candy Crush game maker King.com to Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google, called the copyright framework more 1916 than 2016.
He acknowledged that “solidarity can not be forced or imposed”.
He added that it was necessary to protect the bloc’s borders, speaking about the future reinforcement of the European Union’s law enforcement agency Europol, and adding that he wanted to see about 200 extra border guards and 50 extra vehicles at the external borders of Bulgaria by next month.
HSBC Group Chairman Douglas Flint 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.
“We have to stop this war according to which all success is national and all failure is European”, Juncker said.
“We will not accept that milk is cheaper than water”, Mr Juncker told his audience, as he recalled the difficulties faced by dairy farmers in the wake of sanctions by Russian Federation.
We’ll have more details on the proposed changes later today.
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Mr Juncker called the recently-signed trade deal between the European Union and Canada “the best and most progressive” such deal the European Union had ever signed.
