According to the UK-based Telegraph, the most senior member of the European Union said that Britain in a post-Brexit world “could not have a la carte access” to all the benefits of the European Union.
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“When you travel in Europe with your mobile phone, you will be able to feel at home anywhere in Europe thanks to these new roaming rules”, Mr Juncker told the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
Video: Who Is the EU’s Jean-Claude Juncker?
Twenty-two of the EU’s 28 member states are also members of the US-led North Atlantic Treaty Organisation alliance, headquartered in Brussels, but Juncker insisted the bloc’s military ambitions would not undercut this key relationship. “That is why we will propose before the end of the year a European Defense Fund to turbo boost research and innovation”.
The UK, long opponents to a “European Army” vetoed a similar plan in 2011 with the then government insisting that Britain would never become part of an EU military force.
Juncker stressed a need to do away with old divisions, and appeared to reached out to eastern European Union states that have refused to accept refugee quotes, saying that solidarity on refugees “must be voluntary”. “People in Europe want to know if the political elites are capable of restoring control over events and processes which overwhelm, disorientate, and sometimes terrify them”. “The next 12 months are the crucial time to deliver a better Europe”.
The initial aim of the Investment Plan for Europe, which was first announced last year, was to mobilize 315 billion euros over three years.
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The proposals, echoing a plan put forward this week by France and Germany, are part of a broader attempt to rally European Union nations after Britain’s vote to leave the bloc and to capitalise on its departure – London having opposed the idea. Juncker said, “we would be happy if the request for Brexit could happen as quickly as possible so that we could take the specific steps which need to happen”. It was Britain that has pushed in recent years for a capital market union, a review of the EU’s many burdensome regulations and for the signing of more trade deals. “Without a properly functioning Digital Single Market we will miss out on creativity, growth and jobs”.
