“More European defence in Europe doesn’t mean less trans-Atlantic solidarity”, said Mr Juncker in another nod to restive eastern European and Baltic states who view Nato as the cornerstone of their security in the face of an increasing Russian Federation aggression.
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The planned restrictions on video websites come after a report from campaign group UK Music, which said that revenues from ad-funded digital services “effectively devalue our music behind protectionist and outdated legislation”.
The European Consumer Organisation welcomed Mr Juncker’s reforms but expressed concerns they would favour dominant market players and do little to lower prices on worldwide calls. Juncker is setting the tone of the meeting by calling on the 28-member countries to integrate more fully and said “too often national interests are brought to the fore”.
It represented a major concession to eastern European Union countries, led by Poland and Hungary, who have rebelled against attempts by Berlin and Brussels to impose refugee quotas on them.
UKIP leader Nigel Farage said Mr Juncker was wrong to refer to the incident above any others when there were “many other awful things being done all over Europe”.
The decision in June by British voters to withdraw from the European Union would deprive the EU of its militarily most capable member. He argued that the lack of a “permanent structure” results in money being wasted on missions and that countries should pool their resources to save billions of euros. Not all remaining member states are keen, but European Union defence projects can mean coalitions of the willing.
He said the United Kingdom already had a “very special status” within the European Union, which was illustrated by it not being a member of the eurozone or the Schengen Agreement.
Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage was in the room at the time and reacted strongly to the proposals.
A European Defence Fund would stimulate military research and development, he said.
“So, we propose today to equip every European village and every city with free wireless internet access around the main centres of public life by 2020”.
The European Commission also proposed reining in internet giants such as Google, Facebook’s WhatsApp and Microsoft’s Skype by extending telecoms security rules to web-based apps.
Wilmot-Sitwell said the financial sector is not a “Lego set”, where you can pull up and move pieces without affecting clients and financial stability.
Ms Le Pen described Mr Juncker’s downbeat assessment of the state of the Union as “like a funeral for the EU”.
The European Commission also wants to give news organizations the right to demand payments from aggregators and search engines who use snippets of their articles and other content.
But Mr. Juncker’s address will offer few clues to the negotiations with London that the European Union insists can not start until Prime Minister Theresa May formally sets starts a two-year countdown to British departure.
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Juncker also warned that Britain should expect not to get the same access to the EU’s unified market as if nothing happened.
