Britain Can Stay ‘In’, Says Juncker, But Then It Should Butt Out

David Cameron and Jean[-]Claude Juncker deep in discussion

THE TELEGRAPH: There was no attempt to sugar the pill in Strasbourg today when Jean-Claude Juncker delivered his 'State of the Union' address

Even when times are tough American presidents always declare the state of their union to be “strong”, or something similarly optimistic, but after a year of near perpetual crisis in Europe Jean-Claude Juncker was past pretending: the European Union, he said, is not in “a good state”.

But if this occasion was a showcase for the European Commission president to lay down a vision for how to fix the continent’s ills, from the recent migrant crisis to the still-wobbly euro, it did not inspire confidence.

Mr Juncker spoke for 90 minutes – an absurdly long time – prescribing “more Europe” as the panacea for everything while being heckled from the upper slopes of the chamber by an assortment of anti-Federalist MEPs, including some from our own Ukip.

As a spectacle, it was risible – but that cannot distract from the fact that Mr Juncker is right about one thing: Europe’s challenges have now taken on an existential quality. » | Peter Foster | Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Refugee Crisis: Juncker Calls for EU to Take 'Bold, Concerted Action'

European commission president Jean-Claude Juncker
addresses the European parliament in Strasbourg.

THE GUARDIAN: European commission president uses first state of the union address to urge member states to accept plan to relocate 160,000 refugees

Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European commission, has called for “bold, concerted action” to deal with Europe’s most serious refugee crisis since the second world war.

In his first annual state of the union address before the European parliament in Strasbourg, Juncker urged member states to accept the commission’s plan to relocate 160,000 refugees fleeing war and terror.

Juncker acknowledged that the numbers of people arriving in Europe was “frightening” for some, but declared: “Now is not the time for fright, this is time for bold, concerted action. It is a matter of humanity and dignity, for Europe it is a matter for historical fairness.”

Recalling past waves of migration, Juncker reminded his audience that Europe was the world’s wealthiest and most stable continent.

“We have the means to help those fleeing war and terror. There is certainly an unprecedented number of refugees, but it is just 0.11% of Europe’s population. Refugees represent 25% of Lebanon’s population,” said Juncker. » | Mark Tran | Wednesday, September 9, 2015