PN MEPs welcome the election of Jean-Claude Juncker as European Commission President

“The election of Jean-Claude Juncker to President of the European Commission is good for the European Union, it is good for Malta and it is a victory for democracy”, stated the PN Head of Delegation, David Casa.

"The new European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, is the people's choice and has shown time and again that he is willing to listen and that he is willing to act. He has pushed forward a reform agenda and a concrete vision for Europe, his proposals for job creation and economic growth, his drive to make immigration asylum policy more equitable, have shown that he is the right person for the job," said MEPs David Casa, Roberta Metsola and Therese Comodini Cachia as the European Parliament elected Jean-Claude Juncker as Commission President with 422 in favour 250 against and 47 abstentions. 

The PN MEPs welcomed President Juncker's speech in the European Parliament ahead of the vote. In a wide-ranging speech, President Juncker touched upon the different issues that will face Europe in the next few years . On immigration and asylum, he spoke of a need for a true Common European Asylum System and stressed that "more solidarity between the north and south of Europe in dealing with migration" is needed. He said  that "migration is not just a problem for Malta, Italy, Cyprus and Greece. It is a problem for Europe. In his political guidelines, President Juncker said that he will "entrust a Commissioner with special responsibility for migration to work together with all Member States and with the third countries most concerned." President Juncker also stressed the need of securing Europe’s borders and tackling organised crime networks that facilitate immigration.

President Juncker promised that during the first three months of his mandate he will present an ambitious jobs, growth and investment package in order to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness and to stimulate investment for the purpose of ensuring a climate for job creation across the EU.