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EU border guards to start mid-Oct (2)

September 14, 2016

(ANSA) – Brussels, September 14 – The European Council on Wednesday gave final approval to regulations for the new EU agency of coast guards and border guards. The written OK paves the way for the agency to start up in mid-October, Council sources said. On June 22 the Council said it, the European Parliament and the European Commission had reached a deal on regulations (Law) governing a new agency of EU border guards and coast guards. The agreement was in line with a request by the EU leaders’ summit to wind up talks before the end of the Dutch duty presidency at the end of June. New border guards are part of concerted action to address the migrant and refugee emergency. photo: European Council President Donald Tusk

SOURCE = © Copyright ANSA

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Post-Brexit EU needs joint military HQ, Juncker saysPost-Brexit EU needs joint military HQ, Juncker says

September 14, 2016

The European Union’s chief executive called on Wednesday for a joint command headquarters for EU military missions and greater defense cooperation, reviving long-running efforts to reduce reliance on the United States. In his annual speech to the European Parliament, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said no single EU government had a military big enough to deal with security challenges on Europe’s doorstep, from Islamic militants to a more hostile Russia. The proposals, echoing a plan put forward this week by France and Germany, are part of a broader attempt to rally EU nations after Britain’s vote to leave the bloc and to capitalize on its departure – London having opposed the idea. “We must have a European headquarters and so we should work towards a common military force,” Juncker told the European Parliament, although officials stressed this did not amount to an EU army. “This should be to complement NATO,” he said, also outlining proposals for a common defense fund.

EU leaders struggling for support have identified security as one of citizens’ main concerns following militant attacks in Paris, Brussels and Nice over the last year. Washington is keen to see Europe do more in its own neighborhood and U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump has questioned whether NATO should support allies not seen to be spending enough on defense. Leaders must also compensate for Britain’s departure from the bloc. As Europe’s biggest-spending European power, the British exit could reduce the EU’s military capacity by a quarter without steps to remedy the situation, analysts say. Even before Britain’s decision to leave the EU, years of defense budget cuts, as well as militaries that work in isolation, have diminished Europe’s ability to run missions including peace keeping, disaster relief and counter-terrorism operations at home and abroad. The plan, which follows failed attempts in the 1950s and the 1990s, would not mean soldiers all wear the same uniforms, EU officials say. It involves more cooperation among countries that wish to run missions together, while avoiding duplication in developing military assets at the industrial level.

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SOURCE = Reuters

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Brexit Gives Brussels Impetus to Drop NATO and Create Own EU Army

September 14, 2016

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Brexit: Leaving the EU single market will ‘liberate’ the UK economy, says Sir James Dyson

September 14, 2016

Sir James Dyson, the billionaire entrepreneur and founder of the Dyson company, has said businesses should stay confident in the wake of the EU referendum, as the vote to leave the EU will liberate the country’s economy. Speaking to the BBC, Sir James, one of the  business leaders who publicly supported leaving the EU in June, also argued the UK should be completely out of the EU single market. “We should be absolutely out. If Europe wants free trade with us, then that’s great, if they don’t, we won’t. I don’t think it’s a problem, it’s a very minor issue.  But I can’t believe that they won’t want free trade with us,” he said.

Sir James argued that it would be “suicidal” for the EU to impose tariffs on British goods as it imports £100bn more in value than it exports. “The last thing they are going to do is impose an import duty – it is suicidal for them,” he said. The country would do far better if it no longer had to comply with EU rules and regulations, according to the entrepreneur.  “We can make our own laws and determine our own future and determine our own trade deals with other countries throughout the world. I think it is liberation and a wonderful opportunity for all of us,” he added. Europe represents about 16 per cent of Dyson’s global market but Sir James said there are other very “exciting” markets outside of the EU. His own business is growing faster in China and Japan.

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SOURCE = The Independent

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Jean-Claude Juncker says EU should have its own military headquarters

September 14, 2016

The European Union should have its own military headquarters and Brexit talks should begin “as soon as possible”, the President of the European Commission has said, adding that the European Union is facing a battle for survival against nationalism in Europe.  Delivering a “State of the Union” speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, which sought to ease tensions and rally support for the EU, Jean-Claude Juncker warned the bloc is facing an “existential crisis”. The speech has been heavily anticipated as the EU struggles with multiple crises, from the influx of refugees over the past year, multiple terror attacks and Britain’s shock June referendum to leave the EU. Mr Junker called for a joint command headquarters for EU military missions and greater defence cooperation, reviving long-running efforts to reduce reliance on the United States.

He said no single EU government had a military large enough to deal with security challenges facing Europe, from Islamic militants to a more hostile Russia and echo a plan put forward this week by France and Germany.

“We must have a European headquarters and so we should work towards a common military force,”

Mr Juncker told the European Parliament, although officials stressed this did not amount to an EU army. “This should be to complement NATO,” he said, also outlining proposals for a common defence fund. EU integration cannot be left to the interests of individual member states alone, said Mr Juncker insisting that “too often national interests are brought to the fore” and the EU “still does not have enough Union”.

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SOURCE = The Independent

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‘No-one believed me!’ Farage was right as UK avoids being dragged into Juncker’s EU army

September 14, 2016

 The outgoing UKIP leader delivered an incredible takedown response to the EU Commission president’s speech in Strasbourg. He attacked Jean-Claude Juncker for his plans for a “European army” and “more Europe” in the next 12 months. Mr Farage also delighted in the Brexit campaign, which cuts any ties to joining the European military force. He added: “The EU leaders are basically saying we can’t rely on the Americans, we can do this on our own. “Indeed it was the usual recipe for more Europe and in this particular case of course more military Europe. “When you set up parallel structures with NATO, one is ultimately going to be the top dog over the other.

“This is dangerous.”

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SOURCE = The Express

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Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, suggests UK will not have access to single market after Brexit

September 14, 2016

Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, insisted that Brexit does not mean “the disintegration of the European Union,” as he warned that the UK may not be granted access to the single market in his State of the Union address on Wednesday. The European Union is facing an ‘existential threat’, its most senior official warned, as major splits emerge between East and West countries in the wake of Brexit. He pointed to the murder of a Polish man in Harlow, Essex last month as an example of what could happen if Europe does not unite. “Europe can never accept Polish workers being harassed, beaten up or even murdered in the streets of Essex,” he said, to applause in the chamber.

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Juncker proposes EU military headquarters

September 14, 2016

The European Union needs a military headquarters to work towards a common military force, the Commission president has told MEPs in Strasbourg. Jean-Claude Juncker said the lack of a “permanent structure” resulted in money being wasted on missions. Part of his annual state of the union address was devoted to the UK’s unexpected vote to leave the EU. He insisted that the bloc was not at risk but called for Brexit negotiations to take place as quickly as possible. Modelled on the state of the union address by the US president, the Commission president’s annual speech was introduced in 2010 to detail the state of the EU and future legislative plans.

The Brexit vote has given added impetus to plans for greater defence co-operation, because the UK has always objected to the potential conflict of interest with Nato. But Mr Juncker said a common military force “should be in complement to Nato”. “More defence in Europe doesn’t mean less transatlantic solidarity.” A European Defence Fund would stimulate military research and development, he said. All EU members have military forces; most are also members of Nato; and several have extensive experience of operations abroad, from peace-keeping to war-fighting. The real question is how to organise these component parts to get greater security. Mr Juncker insists that the EU must have a role here.

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SOURCE = BBC News

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Is there a secret plan to create an EU army?

May 27, 2016

“EU army plans kept secret from voters,” was the front-page story in Friday’s Times. If the claim sounded familiar, that was because just two days earlier a retired British army commander, Major General Tim Ross, had claimed in the Daily Express that the EU was “moving inexorably towards full political union and all that comes with it”, including “unified armed forces”. Alongside Brussels bans on bendy bananas and high-powered toasters, few subjects get leave campaigners as hot under the collar as the prospect of an EU army. On Friday Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader, accused the remain side of lying about moves to create one, while the former defence secretary Liam Fox warned darkly that “Europe’s defence intentions are a dangerous fantasy” that risked cutting the UK off from the US, “our closest and most powerful ally”.

It is no secret that the EU has a common defence and security policy. Tony Blair practically invented it when he signed a defence cooperation agreement with Jacques Chirac in 1998. Defence cooperation between member states was given more weight when the EU last updated its treaties, with a mutual defence clause introduced in the Lisbon treaty requiring member states to come to each other’s aid. It is no secret, either, that some would like to see a full-blown EU army. The head of the European commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, has said the EU needs one to show Russia it is serious about defending its values. But is there a serious, imminent chance of this happening? No. In practice, the EU currently runs six military missions, plus 11 civilian operations, mostly in the Balkans, the Middle East and Africa. But the troops serving in these missions are not under the banner of an EU army, but national forces. Britain’s Royal Navy commands the EU operation against Somali pirates; French troops are training infantry soldiers in Mali.

But, contrary to reports, it will not propose an EU army. “There is absolutely no plan to set up an EU army with the global strategy,” a spokeswoman for Mogherini said.

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SOURCE = The Guardian

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