European Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso, delivered his first ever 'State of the Union' speech to the European Parliament yesterday.
In a step more usually associated with American Presidents, Barroso said that in dealing with the challenges of the future ‘Europe must show it is more than 27 different national solutions’. He added: “We will only succeed if, whether acting nationally, regionally or locally we think European.”
He outlined the challenges for the year ahead - dealing with the economic crisis, building an area of freedom, justice and security, launching negotiations for a modern EU budget and ensuring Europe punches its weight on the global stage.
However, Barroso was very clear that increasing employment in the EU was his main concern and as a result he would prioritise investment in innovation, science and education.
In his only direct reference to agriculture, he said: “A forward-looking agricultural sector will play a major role in European measures to address some of the biggest challenges ahead, such as global food security, biodiversity loss and the sustainable management of natural resources.”
Unsurprisingly, he advocated a renewed trade policy to deliver benefits for the EU, saying he would like to see support for the Doha Round of World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks and continued pursuit of bilateral and regional Free Trade Agreements.
Any “State of the Union” speech would not be complete without mention of the future EU Budget, especially as first ideas are due from the Commission at the start of October.
Barroso said that he will push for an ambitious post-2013 budget for Europe and that he would like to see spending focused where the EU will get most value for money. He added: “The issue is not about spending more or less, but spending more intelligently, by looking at European and national budgets together…. Pooling money at the European level allows Member States to cut their costs, avoid overlaps and get a better return on their investment.”
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