Brussels, 23/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 23 March, the French Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, underlined the importance of a strong and united Europe to respond to the diversity of challenges facing the Europeans, at a second visit to the headquarters of the European Commission.
“We have the Europe we deserve”, Valls told a press conference with the President of the Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker. Renewing France's calls to step up the fight against terrorism in the wake of the Brussels attacks (see other article), he called for a “security pact” to better protect the citizens of the EU and give Europe the capacity to intervene outside its own borders, for instance to appease the conflict in Syria and Libya. The Union should also, he argued, be capable of responding to the concerns of the Europeans related to the migration and agricultural crises. The same applies for employment, the French Prime Minister added, stressing the positive contribution to economic recovery made by the 'Juncker' investment plan.
In the institutional field, Valls, who will address the European Parliament in Strasbourg in “a few weeks' time”, said that Europe should “show more imagination, particularly at the time of the British referendum” on whether the UK will stay in the EU, and which has been scheduled for 23 June. He said that it is certainly necessary to move forward with 28 member states, but also “with differentiation on certain subjects”. He reiterated that France will make proposals on reinforcing economic and monetary union (see EUROPE 11474). Valls also confirmed his country's commitment to complying with its budgetary objectives (bringing the public deficit back below the 3% mark by 2017) and to continuing its reforms, with the presentation, this Thursday, of a proposal to modify employment law in France. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)