EU leaders are trying to steady the ship after Britain’s shock June 23 vote to become the first country to leave the union, already buffeted by a ideal storm of globalization, terrorism and mass migrant flows. “Europeans want concrete solutions”. Aides to the former Luxembourg premier say he believes the divisions are as great as he has known them in three decades at the heart of European Union politics.
Advertisement
Juncker said greater defense cooperation also makes economic sense for European Union member nations, since it would reduce as much as 100 billion euros’ worth of wasteful duplication of spending yearly.
The proposal is part of a broader push to forge closer military co-operation in Europe and – with the United Kingdom having always staunchly opposed the idea – to capitalise on Britain’s vote to leave the EU.
Responding to the tech industry’s complaint that such regulations will have a negative impact on start-ups and new online services, the EC says that the proposals will only apply when platforms “gain a significant” mass of protected content and that its aim is to create a “level playing field” between subscription services likes Spotify and Apple Music and user-generated services that pay lower revenues to rights holders.
In a summit invitation letter published late on Tuesday, EU President Donald Tusk said it would be a “fatal error” for the EU to ignore the lessons of Brexit and urged the bloc to be less “politically correct” on migration. “The EU as such is not at risk”, he said. Negotiations are then supposed to take two years, but could conceivably be extended. “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”. “They don’t necessarily want us to do it incredibly fast”.
The head of the European Union executive warned Britain it could not expect “a la carte” access to the EU’s single market if it brings back immigration controls, signalling a wider hardening of Europe’s position ahead of negotiations with London.
Juncker also hit back at rising nationalism and racism, referring to the recent killing of a Polish man in Britain with the words: “We Europeans can never accept Polish workers being harassed, beaten up or even murdered on the streets of Harlow”.
Leaders must also compensate for Britain’s departure from the bloc. The EU needs to listen “more intensely” to its 500 million citizens, he said.
Will any European Union citizens who live in Britain now have to leave? Usherwood said European Union leaders are likely to take a tough line “to avoid a contagion effect” in which other European Union nations ask for special deals with the bloc.
London-focussed estate agent Foxtons blamed a 42 per cent drop in first half profit on Britain’s European Union referendum, saying in July it led to a fall in transactions which is likely to last until the end of the year.
Europe has opened a new battlefront in its war against big US tech, announcing draft rules that could force YouTube and others to pay more money to the music industry.
“We propose today to equip every European village and every city with free wireless internet access”, Mr Juncker said, without giving more details of how the EU would help to achieve this goal within the next decade.
Advertisement
Sales of “big ticket” items such as furniture have held up since Britain’s vote, indicating a relatively robust consumer economy, the head of major department store group John Lewis said in September.
