Speaking to MEPs in the European Parliament in Strasbourg this morning, President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker highlighted that further clarity is needed from the UK to reach an understanding on the future relationship, when he said: “As the clock counts down, with one year to go, it is now time to translate speeches into treaties; to turn commitments into agreements; broad suggestions and wishes on the future relationship to specific, workable solutions.”

The President added that this is especially important with regards to Ireland. “Both the United Kingdom and the European Union have agreed that there should be no hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. The Good Friday Agreement must be preserved in all its dimensions. And life for citizens on both sides of the border should be the same as it is today”, President Juncker said, underlining the unity within the European Union and the 27 Member States when it comes to Ireland. “For us, this is not an Irish issue. It is a European issue“, he said. “It is all for one and one for all – that is what it means to be part of this Union”. The full text of President Juncker‘s speech is available online here.

The European Commission published the draft Withdrawal Agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom on 28 February. More information is available here. In a second intervention in the European Parliament today, and following his recent tour of the Western Balkans, President Juncker said that the March European Council is about focussing on building a stronger, more democratic and united Union.

Addressing the US decision to impose restrictions on steel and aluminium, President Juncker underlined that in the run-up to the Council, the Commission will continue to make the point that exports from the European Union are clearly not a threat to the United States’ national security: “We will defend our workers, we will defend our industry, and we will do so respecting the rules that the world agreed to under the WTO”, he said.

Ahead of the Spring European Council, which will have a strong focus on economic affairs, President Juncker underlined that strengthening the European Union means investing in the architecture of our Economic and Monetary Union, and that now is the time do this as Europe’s economy grows; this includes completing the Banking Union, and developing the European Stability Mechanism into a European Monetary Fund, he said, stressing that “this is a means to creating the conditions for a better, more prosperous and fairer life for all our citizens”.

The full text of the speech is available online here.