EU: Mr. Juncker delivers a critical yet rallying address on the state of the EU

“The European Union is not social enough and this must be remedied,” thus was the opening message of the European Commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, in his 14 September State of the Union address before the members of the European Parliament. Nonetheless, he provided few ideas on ways to succeed. A key moment in European political life, this speech, which comes just two days prior to the post-Brexit meeting in Bratislava, aims to take stock of the past year and to present the major political priorities for the upcoming months. At a time when Europe is undergoing an unprecedented period of institutional crisis, the Commission president called for more solidarity and condemned social dumping both within the EU and outside with its trading partner countries.
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Included in the points the Commission president presented was the announcement of the renewal of the European fund for Strategic Investments, which will allow the European Investment Bank to invest in and finance projects deemed as at risk in the areas of infrastructure, research and innovation, educations, health, ICT, and energy (c.f. article No. 8744). “Today, we propose to double the duration (6 years until 2022) of the European Fund for Strategic Investments and double its financial capaci

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