The elephant in the room

When the European Council met on 16 July its members had more on the agenda than discussing nominations for the unions top jobs. They also had an exchange of views with the President-elect, Mr. Jean Claude Juncker, and discussed two important topics of foreign relations, Ukraine and Gaza.

The discussion with Mr. Juncker concerned the Strategic Agenda for the Union in times of change, agreed on by the council 27 June 2014. This agenda set out five overarching priorities which will guide the work of the European Union over the next five years:

1. A Union of jobs, growth and competitiveness
2. A Union that empowers and protects all citizens
3. Towards an Energy Union with a forward-looking climate policy
4. A union of freedom, security and justice
5. A Union as a strong global actor

The council wanted to know how Mr. Juncker intends to organize the work to move this stategic agenda forward. According to President Van Rompuy it was a good discussion.

There is no reason to doubt that Mr. Juncker will do his best to achieve the five priorities of the agenda. He intends to revive the Commission as a political impetus, and can use many instruments to streamline the work. A clustering of directorates and commissioners is one of the possibilities which has been mentioned.
 
But there is a big question whether the five priorities are consistent. Is a stronger Euro area governance  compatible with a union that empowers and protects its citizens ? How will emphasis on climate change affect competitiveness ? And what will be the result of greater migration between countries with different economies ?

And little is said of the elephant in the room: an ever closer union. To day the EU have great problems with growth, competitiveness and unemployment. The citizens trust in the union is low and the European elections 2014 reflected a growing euroskepticism. But the Strategic Agenda is just more of the same medicine: integration. In the conclusions from the meeting 16 July the European Council calls on all EU Institutions to concentrate their activities on areas where the Union can make a real difference. Which means the council  have noticed the elephant, but do not really want to talk so much about it.