Juncker’s vision

“For those who supported Brexit, Jean-claude Juncker is truly the gift that goes on giving,” said the Daily Mail. Every word uttered by the European Commission president “underlines the wisdom of voters’ decision to pull out”. Last week, in his annual State of the Union address to the European Parliament, “the cognac-loving former prime minister of Luxembourg was at his arrogant, blinkered worst as he outlined his vision for expanding the Brussels empire”. Juncker revealed that he wants all EU members to join the euro, the banking union and the passport-free Schengen Area. He also wants a common defence policy for the EU. “To cap it all off”, he called for the whole show to be run by one all-powerful president, combining his own role with that of the European Council’s president, Donald Tusk – “one captain”, as he put it, “steering the ship”. Juncker has every reason to be bullish, said Charlemagne in The Economist. The wind, he rightly declared, is “back in Europe’s sails”. The EU’S economic growth is outstripping America’s. Anti-european parties have been defeated in France and the Netherlands. “The horrors of Brexit and Trump” have “vaccinated” the EU against populist disruption. And with the election of Emmanuel Macron in France and the likely re-election of Angela Merkel in Germany, there is a “window of opportunity for reform”. Juncker should be congratulated, said Le Monde (Paris). Between Macron’s visionary plan – for a eurozone with its own government and uniform tax rates – and Merkel’s more cautious approach, Juncker has found a compromise: a path of “inspired realism”. What a change from recent years, when the EU was frozen in “economic anaemia and political impotence”. Besides, “what concern is it of the UK if the EU uses its departure to pursue integration”, asked George Eaton in the New Statesman. Britain hindered it long enough, with its endless threats, vetoes and opt-outs.

It’s not only Britain standing in the way of further integration, said Alex Barker in the FT. Juncker’s plans would need unanimous support from the 27 remaining member states. This represents “the tallest of orders”. “Juncker is a romantic,” remarked Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister. “I am more of a ‘when you have visions, go to a doctor’ kind of guy.” And since he is standing down in 2019, Juncker has given himself only 19 months to unleash this “cleansing burst of centralisation”. In March, he suggested that the EU might become a “multispeed union”, said Juliet Samuel in The Daily Telegraph, with some states able to opt out of integration. Now he seems to have firmly backed away from this. The risk here should be obvious: forced integration will create a gulf between the EU’S core and its more sceptical members, particularly in Eastern Europe. The EU’S schisms “are as wide as ever”, said The Times, and there is little sign that Juncker has found a way of bridging them. “Europe’s next leader needs a better understanding of what is desirable, and doable.”