“While I am not an integration fanatic, I am very much in favor of deepening the European Union and at the same time respecting to the fullest extent justified, national interests,” he said. He excluded treaty changes in the short term, “even though they would be necessary” down the line. [...]
Juncker’s proposals, to be pursued in his final, full work-year before the 2019 European election, will include expanded military cooperation, concerted action on trade and trade defense, and the transformation of the European Stability Mechanism into a permanent safety net to protect not just national budgets but the pocketbooks and quality of life of the bloc’s citizens. [...]
What he envisions is an EU where decision-making is streamlined, allowing the bloc to act more nimbly in areas where greater cooperation is needed and desired, while also drawing bright lines around areas of national sovereignty where he believes the capitals are right to demand their due deference. [...]
Criticized for ignoring and almost never visiting the Eastern EU states, Juncker insisted he was aware of the need to balance their desires with those of older, Western members of the club. “This weighs on my thinking and doing, because I always have to ask myself: If I propose this or that, then I immediately have a difference between East and West,” he said. “That’s a topic for the future that we need to tackle right now. I put a lot of effort into [talking to Slovakian Prime Minister Robert] Fico and [Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor] Orbán.” [...]
The creation of an EU finance minister, which already has the crucial support of French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, would further cement Juncker’s legacy as a champion of the EU, and allow him to boast of fulfilling a major promise from his campaign for Commission president in 2014.
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