JEAN-CLAUDE JUNCKER PRIORITIES FOR THE EC

1. To put policies that create growth and jobs at the centre of the policy agenda of the next Commission. Creation of a digital single market for consumers and businesses – making use of the great opportunities of digital technologies which know no borders. To do so, it will be necessary to break down national silos in telecoms regulation, in copyright and data protection legislation, in the management of radio waves and in competition law.

2. To reform and reorganise Europe’s energy policy in a new European Energy Union by pooling resources, combining infrastructures and uniting the EU negotiating power vis-à-vis third countries as well as diversify EU energy sources, and reduce the energy dependency of several Member States.

3. To negotiate a reasonable and balanced trade agreement with the United States of America. This will mean abolishing customs duties, recognising each other’s product standards, working towards transatlantic standards, without sacrificing Europe’s safety, health, social and data protection standards on the altar of free trade. Food safety and the protection of the personal data of Europeans will be non-negotiable.

4. To continue with the reform of the monetary union, and to do so with Europe’s social dimension in mind.  a. This will mean re-balancing the relationship between elected politicians and the European Central Bank in the daily management of the Eurozone. The Eurozone should instead be managed by the Commission and by the Euro Group chaired by a full-time President. The responsibility of the Euro Group includes issues related to the exchange rate. b. This will mean re-balancing the way in which conditional stability support to Eurozone countries is granted in financial difficulties. In the future, any support and reform programme  should go not only through a fiscal sustainability assessment; but at the same time through a social impact assessment. The social effects of structural reforms need to be discussed in public. c. This will mean strengthening the external projection of the monetary union e.g. joint representation of the Eurozone in the IMF. The euro must not only be stable on the inside, but also have a strong common voice on the global stage.

5. To give an answer to the British question and find solutions for the political concerns of the United Kingdom and to work for a fair deal with Britain i.e. a deal that accepts the specificities of the UK in the EU, while allowing the Eurozone to integrate further. The UK will need to understand that in the Eurozone, we need more Europe, not less. On the other hand, the other EU countries will have to accept that the UK will never participate in the euro. We have to accept that the UK will not become a member of the Schengen area and probably outside new EU institutions such as the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, meant to improve the fight against fraud in the EU, but clearly rejected by the House of Commons and the House of Lords. We have to respect such clear positions of the British Parliament, based on the British “opt out” Protocol. Red line in talks would be the integrity of the single market and its four freedoms; and the possibility to have more Europe within the Eurozone to strengthen the single currency shared by so far 18 and soon 19 Member States.