2016 State of the Union

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has delivered his 2016 State of the Union address before the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Roxana Vasile, 15.09.2016, 13:54

The European Union will survive Great Britain’s decision to leave the community block, but it must immediately overcome crisis undermining it on the inside, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Wednesday, as part of his State of the Union address delivered before the European Parliament. The EU official said the next 12 months are crucial for Europe, providing a series of concrete measures addressed to strengthening the unity between Eastern and Western Europe. The measures also include developing common military resources that might lead to the setup of a single headquarters of the EU.

Romanian MEP Norica Nicolai says the Romanian military industry might benefit from this proposal: “We, at the Security and Defense Committee, have been long talking about the need to join military capabilities, because we do not yet have the capacity to build all the weapons such as a move might entail. The costs are really high, and the European industry fares pretty bad as compared to the United States. The fund devoted to research and innovation is addressed to the defense industry, and Romania might benefit by accessing the fund and making use of its defense industry”.

The European Union, Jean-Claude Juncker said, has to strengthen its cohesion and protect its external borders against migratory flows. At the same time, Juncker has presented an investment plan for North Africa and the Middle East, aimed at dealing with the root causes of migration. The European Commission President has also argued in favor of strengthening the Juncker plan to boost economic growth across the EU. “Europe is not the Wild West, but a social market economy”, Juncker said. The EU official also wants to increase the protection of local industries by counteracting social dumping. Jean-Claude Juncker has also referred to youth unemployment. In the absence of concrete measures, young people today “might be the first generation in 70 years to be poorer than their parents”. The European Commission President also called on the EU Commissioners to liaise with their national Parliaments over the next few weeks so as to discuss the state of the union with local deputies and senators.

Romanian MEP Viorica Dancila says a talk on European projects is a great idea for Bucharest: “I believe that each Commissioner should go home and talk about the projects he is responsible for, because time is scarce”.

Last but not least, the European Commission is also planning a thorough reform of the telecommunications market, so as to be able to fully deploy a 5G network of mobile communication systems across the European Union by 2025.