The President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, presented his vision of a Europe of 27 member states, anchored in its democratic foundations and capable of reforming to meet global challenges and respond to the expectations of the citizens without being overwhelmed by the prospect of Brexit, in his State of the Union speech on Wednesday 13 September.
We need to complete the European house when the sun is shining and make the most of it when the wind is at our back, Juncker said, speaking of a gradual improvement in the socio-economic situation on the continent, a better understanding of migration flows and less power for the populist and Eurosceptic forces. On the basis of his own personal experience in the last decades, he referred to three values that are central to the European project: freedom, equality and the rule of law.
Without ever naming Poland, against which rule of law procedures are in place (see other article), the former Luxembourg Prime Minister stressed that the EU applies the force of law and not the law of the jungle and that the law must be upheld by an independent justice system. He also referred to the obligation for states to comply with European case-law, in reference to the recent judgement of the Court of Justice of the EU upholding the mechanism for the relocation of asylum seekers, with which Hungary did not wish to comply (see EUROPE 11856).
Juncker called for work currently underway to be put to bed ahead of the European elections of 2019, such as the completion of many sectoral unions, particularly in the fields of digital, energy and banks (see other articles). He has laid several foundation stones up to spring 2019 to launch major reforms of an institutional nature. Some of them are highly ambitious, such as the proposal to merge the posts of President of the European Commission and President of the European Council, and are unlikely to see the light of day any time soon.
Other reforms, such as the creation of a post of European economy and finance minister, by merging the positions of the Commissioner of the same name and President of the Eurogroup, or measures to reinforce the rule of law, will be put forward for the approval of the European citizens, for instance by organising democratic conventions. With this proposal, Juncker has adopted a proposal by the French President, Emmanuel Macron.
In order to present the Europeans, who will be going to the polls in May 2019, with a clear project, President Juncker called for a special European summit to be held in Sibiu under the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU. This summit would be held on 30 March 2019, immediately after Brexit. Juncker voiced his hope that on 30 March 2019, the Europeans will wake up in an EU in which being a full member of the Eurozone, banking union and the Schengen zone has become the norm for each member state of the EU, he said. The Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis, immediately took to Twitter to welcome this suggestion.
As for the European elections, in which he will not himself stand, the Commission President expressed his support for the European Parliament's proposal to set the Spitzenkandidaten process in stone. Under this process, the political families appoint their champion, who becomes President of the European Commission if their family wins, as was the case with Juncker, the Christian Democrat family's candidate. He also took position in favour of transnational lists in a pan-European constituency, using MEP seats to be vacated by the UK.
Using the institutional subtleties of the treaty as a basis
Rather than waiting for a major institutional reform, which will take time, particularly if it involves treaty change, the Commission President firmly believes that the subtleties of the existing treaty should be put to use to make the Community legislative process more effective. In particular, he has taken on board Parliament's position, calling in the 'Brok/Bresso' reports (see EUROPE 11727) for the bridging clause (article 48 of the treaty) to be used, on taxation issues in particular.
Under this clause, the European Council may authorise the Council to rule by qualified majority of member states. This decision of the Council is then put before the national parliaments and if no objections are expressed within six months, the decision is considered to have been adopted. The opposition of a single national parliament is enough to prevent the Council from using this option. The Commission seems to feel that if 25 countries are in favour of pushing decisions into qualified majority territory, there will be enormous pressure on the more reluctant countries, to the extent that they may get behind the majority opinion.
An irreproachable Commission
Out of concerns of making the actions of the European institution he presides over irreproachable in response to criticisms over a lack of transparency in the work of the Commissioners and 'revolving door' career moves, Juncker on Wednesday presented a reform of the Commissioners' code of conduct.
It is clear that the new code will tighten up the obligations of the Commissioners in terms of integrity, during and after their term in office, Juncker stressed.
This reform, which will enter into force on 1 February 2018: - extends the cooling-off period, currently 18 months, to two years for former Commissioners and three years for President of the Commission; defines what constitutes a conflict of interests, for the first time; - applies stricter rules to the financial interests of Commissioners, for instance requiring them to declare any investment of more than €10,000; - provides for information on the travel expenses of each Commissioner to be published.
In the event of any breach of the code, the Commission will be able to reprimand its members and make the matter public.
The Commissioners will, moreover, be permitted to stand for the European elections. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion with Marion Fontana, Solenn Paulic, Élodie Lamer and Lionel Changeur)