Speech of President Juncker in Passau, Germany – Discussion ‘Menschen in Europa’: "Euro, Russia, Refugees – which perspective for the European Union?"

Dear Mr Diekmann, Ms Diekmann, Manfred Weber, Udo, ladies and gentlemen.

I am happy to be in Passau. The fact is that whenever one travels somewhere, one always has to say that one is happy to be there. That is usually not the case. But this evening I mean it, because I know this city a bit, not like the back of my hand, not all its nooks and crannies. But I am familiar with Passau, nonetheless. Life abounds here, as is now known - and can be seen - throughout the world. I was happy to come because the head of my personal office, Professor Selmayr, studied here, met his wife here and got married nearby. And also because my friend Manfred Weber stays here frequently. And that is why Lower Bavaria and Passau hold hardly any secrets for me, because either Manfred or Martin Selmayr regularly keep me abreast of what is happening here. From time to time I also read the Passauer Neue Presse, a newspaper that brings off the difficult task of combining the local with the international in exemplary fashion. And when it writes about me, it doesn't always make mistakes. So that is why I am happy to be here.

And besides, I was very surprised that I wasn't in your video. Because I have already spoken once before at this event. Of course, I understand that you are embarrassed by the fact that I am the only person who is allowed to speak here twice. And I will make good the threat that this will not be the last time either that I speak at this event.

Now, I was given to understand that I have ten minutes for this opening statement, as you have called it. Usually I need ten minutes for the first part of my introduction. So this will be a difficult undertaking - above all because you are asking me to address a wide range of issues.

Today, as every day, I have been thinking about Europe and I remain of the view that the European Union is not in good shape. That is evident from the numerous cracks in solidarity that are appearing everywhere. That is evident from the resurgence of national resentment, which we had thought would never surface again. And despite that, I am an unshakeable optimist, because I still believe that there is good ground for continuing to be proud of Europe and of the European Union. I am always surprised when I am invited to speak in Germany because I am simply incapable of this new German virtue of permanent Lachrimosity. Since we cannot just complain all the time, we also have to see what is working well.

We are not proud enough of this Europe. For all the faults this construction might have, we are the one continent in this world to have suffered the most at the hands of its people. This is because we allowed war to break out twice in Europe during the 20th century. Indeed, it was us who caused it. People throughout the world are amazed that after the Second World War we were able to turn this continent into a place of peace. The only people who do not enjoy this are the Europeans. The only people who are not proud of Europe are the Europeans themselves. This we must change.

In a relatively short space of time, we forged the largest internal market in the world. We created a European currency for ourselves, merging 18-19 national currencies into one single currency. Despite all the troubles which may have followed, we would have been a lot worse off were it not for the single currency: the Iraq war in 2001,the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, the Mexican and Russian financial crises, the financial crisis in South-East Asia. The seventy wars raging across the globe right now. If we had tackled global problems with national currencies and national central banks, if we had been torn apart in all directions, coherence and cohesion in Europe would have remained a pious wish. Now we find ourselves facing a new and important challenge: the refugee crisis. This afternoon I visited the registration centre for refugees, asylum seekers and migrants here in Passau. I wanted to do this, not in order to speak to the refugees - I did this nonetheless, although I don't much care for disaster tourism. I believe it is better to speak, for once, to those who take care of the refugees. The people of Europe.

And what I saw here from the volunteers offering their help and, from the Mayor, from the municipal authorities on the ground, and from the assistance being provided by the Federal and Bavarian Police and the Red Cross was quite amazing. This is what Europe should be like. Now is not the time, though it is the kind of talk that generally goes down well with the public, to speak of walls and fences. Europe had a Wall for long enough. We do not need another one now, least of all between Member States of the European Union. This is contrary to the European project. What we need is to roll up our sleeves and get to work. What we need is a sense of civic spirit and national responsibility. This migration crisis will last a number of years. I am under no illusion that what we are currently experiencing is not going to be consigned quickly to the history books. People are on the move. In West Africa alone 8.5 million refugees are on the road. Around Europe there are 25 million refugees. They will not all come to us. That wouldn't be possible. Not for us. Not for anyone. However, we have to tell people that this is not a temporary situation but a problem we are probably going to have to live with for quite a long time. As Manfred Weber said, the fact that decision-making takes a long time is not the fault of the European Union. And it annoys me to read that.

The Commission produced proposals and already put forward a list of safe countries in 2001. The Member States decided that this was not a matter for the European Union, but one of national sovereignty. In May we submitted an Agenda on Migration and also proposed a quota system. It took until September for the Council of Ministers to adopt this quota system. Not unanimously, as we had wanted, but by a majority vote, incidentally in line with the Treaty position. I do not understand why countries, governments and parties are opposed to a compulsory quota system in Europe. No one will resolve this crisis alone. What we need is European solidarity at its most intensive. That is why we require Europe-wide distribution quotas that are not concentrated on a single focal point, but spread across the EU. This is what we must do. Otherwise, many people’s willingness and readiness to help will fade at some point. People's capacity in this respect is limited in time and will not last forever. And because this is an issue for the long term, we also need to enter into comprehensive European solidarity. I have no wish to play down the issue, but this isn't something we should find so difficult.

Lebanon is a small country, a poor country, but the ratio of refugees within its borders to its native population is one in four, or 25 per cent. The wave of refugees we are now witnessing is 0.11 per cent of the population of Europe. When I sit down together with Lebanese politicians, I am then embarrassed to tell them that we in Europe are accepting 160 000 refugees. The Lebanese are friendly people. Just imagine for a second that a quarter of Europe's population was made up of refugees, how would we then talk to a country that took in refugees accounting for just 0.11% of its population? So we need to recognise that this crisis will last a long time. We must face it with solidarity. And what I say about the refugee crisis also applies to many other areas. We will have to contend with the issue of refugees for some time to come. The Commission has recently proposed a permanent relocation mechanism. Again, it will take a dreadfully long time before the Member States and their Governments back this proposal. But it is a proposal that shows humanity and healthy common sense. At present, though, we all know that healthy common sense is very unevenly distributed in Europe. So it will take a lot of time before we can use this permanent relocation mechanism. Some Governments are haunted by wisdom. But they are much quicker off the mark. That is why it is so difficult to apply common sense and humanity. I am convinced that we need a list of safe countries of origin. That is what the Commission has proposed. Ministers of the Interior met today in Luxembourg, but could not agree on the list because the Commission wanted to include Turkey. Since I had long discussions with President Erdoğan last week, I know what is possible in Turkey. But you cannot officially be an accession country. You cannot put all accession countries on the list of safe countries and leave out Turkey. We need a consistent policy on origin, and we will work towards this. That is not the only issue we need to address, however.

In order to tighten things up, we need to continue to deepen economic and monetary union, which is not complete and does not work as well as it should - indeed it is far from ideal. Even if we do sort it out and even if we do - very laboriously, as I know only too well - get the Greek problem under control, we need to acknowledge that we are still far from being on top of things. Although the Greek Government has promised to do what needs to be done, there are still many key currency and economic policy issues that have not been resolved. This includes stronger coordination of economic policy, rather than sticking to a system in which everybody does what they want. A good measure of tax harmonisation and social alignment are also needed, without wanting to turn economic and monetary union into a tax or social policy melting pot. That will not work.

Then we have the major problem of Russia. When the Wall fell, everybody hoped, in the context of change on the continent, that everything would be better, including myself as a child of the Cold War. But everything did not get better. It is not acceptable for President Putin to redraw borders in Europe. That is why we imposed sanctions, which are not the smartest form of political reaction. But either you start a war or you impose sanctions. I prefer sanctions to military conflict. We are not obliged to reach out to Russia. We need to create a relationship with Russia that will leave future generations a map of Europe and a European continent where life is good. That is why we need to strive for a more appropriate relationship with Russia. It is not very sexy, but that is how it must be. We cannot continue down the same path. Syria has shown us where it leads.

Perhaps we old Europeans will have to be slightly more modest when we act on the world stage. Europe is the smallest continent: the European Union covers only 5.5 million square kilometres. Russia, one of our nearest neighbours, stretches across 17.5 million square kilometres. Our share of global value creation is shrinking by the day. Already, 80 per cent of global economic growth is taking place outside the European Union. Our relative share of global GDP will go down to around 15 per cent. We are also in demographic decline. At the beginning of the 20th century Europeans accounted for 20 per cent of the world’s population, whereas now the figure is 7 per cent. And by the end of the century Europeans will make up only 4 per cent of the world’s 10 billion people. We will become weaker, not stronger, if we do not understand that now is not the time to retrench behind national borders; if we do not realise, in spite of all our trials and tribulations, that the time has come to strengthen Europe. I dislike the phrase ‘more Europe’. It’s a cliché that no one really understands. But we need — as I’ve said over the past few days in the European Parliament — both more union and more Europe in the European Union to ensure that in 20 or 30 years’ time there is a Europe that carries weight in the world, a Europe that people listen to. Because Europe is not merely an invention for its own sake. Europe also has much to offer to the world. As long as 25 000 children continue to die from starvation every day, then Europe’s work is not done. While world poverty still has to be eradicated, then Europe’s work is not done. And that is the task we must apply ourselves to, without becoming discouraged, without naivety, without overblown optimism or Euro euphoria. Europe, make no mistake, is hard work.

Thank you very much.

SPEECH/15/5824