The UK voted to leave the European Union in a referendum on June 23.
Advertisement
Mr Juncker said: “There is a clear interlink as we made clear at the very beginning between the access to the internal market and the basic principles of the internal market – namely the free movement of workers and we are sticking to that position”.
“We need a strong Europe to bear its share of the burden, working with us on behalf of our collective security”, Obama said in April in Hanover, Germany.
“Any negotiation will be a hard negotiation, independent of the personalities”, he said. I saw this clearly when I was in office when we had to vote on candidacy of Jean-Claude Juncker for the presidency of the commission.
“Of course we want an agreement that represents some sort of mutual benefit”.
A European Defence Fund would stimulate military research and development, he said.
Juncker said he and the European Union should “remain on a friendly basis” with Britain, but warned that the country shouldn’t expect to have the same access to the EU’s single market once it officially triggers its exit.
The EU agreed to distribute among member states some of the migrants who arrived in Greece and Italy a year ago, but fewer than 5,000 people have so far been relocated and around 58,000 are still stuck in Greece. “Indeed it was the usual recipe – more Europe, in this particular case, more military Europe”.
Juncker’s keenly awaited speech comes two days before the 27 European Union 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.
Juncker meanwhile proposed doubling the size of his signature investment plan to €630 billion (US$708 billion), and announced measures to help young people hit by the eurozone debt crisis.
Britain still has to officially trigger the exit negotiations to become the first member state to walk away from Europe’s biggest unity project.
The Commission President went on to urge the United Kingdom to start and facilitate negotiations for Brexit in the soonest time possible.
Advertisement
There are fears the European Union is facing paralysis until Britain decides to move. Juncker also warned that Britain should expect not to get the same access to the EU’s unified market as if nothing happened. An “ala carte access to the single market” isn’t possible once Brexit takes effect.
