At the very same moment when German chancellor Angela Merkel said the EU was in crisis, President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, promises everyone in the EU free internet.
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The EU also plans to subject internet services like WhatsApp and Skype to similar rules that traditional telecommunications firms face. “And we have to invest in that connectivity now”.
He told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper in Germany that the army “would convey to Russian Federation that we are serious about defending the values of the European Union”.
While EU states mostly agree on steps to discourage labor migrants from reaching the EU en masse, they differ on how to treat refugees and are locked in bitter disputes on how to handle those already there.
Post-Brexit, the 27 remaining states in the European Union need to stick together and assume increased responsibility for their defense, Juncker stressed.
The 48-minute speech drew a standing ovation from the main parties in an assembly dominated by supporters of closer European integration, but there was scorn from eurosceptics, including Marine Le Pen, the French National Front leader, and Nigel Farage, the triumphant Brexit campaigner from UKIP.
The idea is to try and ensure that free Wi-Fi European Commission will be available across all public spaces throughout the EU by 2020, less than 4 years from now.
Regulators across the European Union will also develop a coordinated approach to help the bloc encourage financial technology start ups, the Commission added. This has the potential to create a further two million jobs in the EU.
“I think the time to make use of this possibility is now”, he declared.
News organisations have felt a pinch as consumers get more and more of their news exclusively from social networks and aggregate news sites.
And by 2025, the European Union wants 5G mobile broadband to be available around all major roads and rail links.
Markus Reinisch, Vodafone’s public policy director, and Grégoire Verdeaux, its global policy director, said: “Vodafone welcomes the review of the EU telecoms framework resulting in today’s proposal for a new European electronic communications code and the Commission’s communication on its vision for the European gigabit society”. As well as an increased military role, Juncker also said the European Union will have to step up its diplomatic presence, suggesting the bloc should have a single foreign minister.
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“Europe needs to toughen up”.
