EU president Juncker says Britain will regret decision to leave bloc

■ Juncker says bloc has become more united in past 12 months, Britain will regret EU exit

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, in a flagship speech on Wednesday, declared the “wind is back in Europe’s sails” after last year’s shock Brexit vote, an act he insisted Britain would regret. In his annual State of the Union address, Mr Juncker said the troubled bloc had become more united in the past 12 months and economic growth was picking up. The EU should seize the momentum to deepen integration and sign new trade deals around the world, Juncker told the European Parliament. Defying eurosceptics, the former Luxembourg premier called for more states to join the euro and the passport-free Schengen area and proposed a single EU president and finance minister. “The wind is back in Europe’s sails,” Juncker told MEPs in the French city of Strasbourg, in a speech that mixed English, French and German. “We have now a window of opportunity but it will not stay open forever. Let us make the most of the momentum, catch the wind in our sails.” Mr Juncker did not utter the word “Brexit” until the very end of his 80-minute speech, saying that “we will regret it, but you will regret it too”, earning jeers from British eurosceptics in the chamber. “We will move forward because Brexit is not everything, because Brexit is not the future of Europe,” the veteran politician added. British eurosceptic leader Nigel Farage, who is a Euro-MP, responded to Mr Juncker: “Thank God we’re leaving , you’ve learnt nothing from Brexit”. Mr Juncker has two years left in office as head of EU’s executive.