Jobs, Ukraine, Brexit among tasks for new EU Commission
(BRUSSELS) - The new European Commission has a challenging agenda -- launch a 300-billion-euro investment plan, defuse tensions with Russia, conclude a huge US trade deal and keep Britain in the EU.
- JOBS -
A priority for the commission headed by Jean-Claude Juncker is to fight unemployment and revive economic growth amid global fears about the continent's economy.
Juncker has said he will start work immediately on readying a 300-billion-euro ($380-billion) investment package to boost jobs and growth by Christmas. But it is not immediately clear what role the private and public sectors will play in implementing the plan.
The plan comes against the backdrop of a fierce EU debate between Germany and its allies which want more austerity to tackle national deficits, and those such as France which want to spend their way back into economic health.
The Commission is betting on trade deals, completion of the internal market and the development of the digital economy to revive growth and create jobs.
Juncker has backed a minimum wage across the EU, a traditional demand of the left that German Chancellor Angela Merkela adopted for a coalition government between her conservatives and the social democrats.
- FOREIGN POLICY -
The commission has a full plate of foreign policy issues on the menu, including the crisis with Russia over Ukraine, the jihadist threat in Iraq and Syria, and the seemingly endless Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
The EU is seeking to strike the right tone with Moscow by using tough economic sanctions to stop its alleged meddling in Ukraine but without causing a rupture in relations. Outgoing Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso this week oversaw a deal to resume Russian gas supplies to Ukraine this week. New EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has called for firmness and tact with Russia, stressing that if Russia is no longer a partner, it remains a strategic country and neighbour.
Juncker has said the EU will not expand beyond the 28 member countries it currently has. Negotiations to admit new members will continue but no new country will join the club, including Serbia and Montenegro.
- US TRADE DEAL -
Juncker has vowed to take a careful look at a controversial yet central element of a proposed giant EU-US free trade deal that allows corporations to sue governments.
He is referring to a clause in the EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a blockbuster trade deal currently under negotiation that would unite the world's two biggest markets.
The so-called investor-state dispute settlement, or ISDS, allows firms to sue national governments if they feel that local laws -- such as health and safety regulations -- violate the trade deal and threaten their investments.
Juncker said under no circumstances would the ISDS have the final say over any dispute that could arise between companies and governments.
- LONDON AND BRUSSELS -
EU leaders have sent the message that they want Britain to stay in the bloc. Under intense pressure from eurosceptics, British Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged that if re-elected, he will hold a referendum by 2017 on whether to leave the EU.
To avoid a British exit, or "Brexit," European institutions appear ready to cut red tape and allow some decisions to be taken nationally, where possible.
In an apparent sop to the British, Juncker named Briton Jonathan Hill his commissioner for financial services, the industry for which London has a worldwide reputation.
But Juncker has flatly refused to negotiate on the issue of free movement, in a blow to Cameron's pledge to seek new limits on immigration.