“More European defense will not mean less transatlantic defense”, said Jean-Claude Juncker. “Indeed it was the usual recipe – more Europe, in this particular case, more military Europe”. “I think many citizens instead have the creeping feeling that they will be pulled much faster into military conflicts”.
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The PM slapped down Mr Davis for saying it was “very improbable” that the United Kingdom could be in the single market and end free movement, and then insisted the Government would not offer a “running commentary” on negotiations. “When you roam, it should be like at home”, Juncker said.
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.
Juncker’s speech was perhaps the most resounding pitch for the EU’s durability since the Brexit vote, and marked a rebuttal to the battering numerous bloc’s officials took during the campaign and in its immediate wake.
“It is clear that no lessons are going to be learned from Brexit”, he said.
Juncker highlighted the reunification of Cyprus as one area where “Europe is a driving force”.
The EU leadership has also presented plans to guarantee that every European village and city has a free wireless Internet network by 2020.
Juncker called for more European Union action when it comes to common defense, dealing with external borders, climate action and commercial enterprise.
“The world is getting bigger everyday and Europe is getting smaller if we want to keep our standing and influence then this assembly is essential”. Juncker also warned that Britain should expect not to get the same access to the EU’s unified market as if nothing happened. “The lack of cooperation is something that is costing Europe 20 to 100 billion euros a year”, he said.
However, with Europe’s biggest-spending military power set to leave, many in Brussels are concerned that cuts in defence spending will limit the bloc’s ability to run peace-keeping missions, disaster relief and counter-terrorism operations at home and overseas.
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That reform will be accompanied by the setting up of a new computer database created to monitor when non-EU citizens enter and leave the bloc’s external borders, in a move it is hoped will thwart terrorists traveling to and from the Middle East. Those nations that aren’t keen on the idea should not be shut out, it says, but should be allowed to form a huge, regional market that trades freely with the EU while rejecting political union.
