The attacks continue Jean-Claude Juncker to the protagonists of the Brexit, defined as "radiant heroes of yesterday, who are now sad heroes". At the center of the sights of the President of the Commission, in the speech given during the plenary session in Strasbourg, are Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage.
In fact, the two main supporters of Great Britain's exit from the European Union seem to have left the British scene after what appeared to be their personal "triumph": the former mayor of London did not run for leadership of the Conservative party, while Farage resigned as UKIP leader.
For Juncker the two “have left the stage now, after having brought the United Kingdom to Brexit. They are retro-nationalists, they are not patriots because true patriots don't abandon ship when the situation becomes difficult” and then he hoped that “the United Kingdom presents its formal request to leave the EU as soon as possible”.
The president of the European Commission is in turn the target of a crossfire. Juncker, in fact, came under attack after Brexit, must now face criticism from Germany, through the mouth of the Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, and those of Poland and Slovakia (which in recent days have asked for his resignation, on the issues of the distribution of immigrants and the flexibility of budgetary rules.
For Schaeuble “the European Union is facing a crucial test, perhaps the greatest in its history. Faced with demagoguery and ever more widespread Euroscepticism, Europe simply cannot continue as before”. According to the German minister the "time has come for pragmatism" and to "stop playing the usual games of Europe and Brussels". “It is the moment – concluded Schaeuble – in which i Governments must assume their responsibilities, even if the Commission does not follow them".
The President of the Commission spoke to the MEPs meeting at Strasbourg, clarifying that the EU executive “is not working under the banner of “business as usual”. Juncker then rebuffed the attacks by pointing the finger at national governments: "The problem with the European Union is that decisions are taken which are not implemented" by the same governments that took them.
Furthermore, today the Commission will have to decide on the ratification of the trade agreement between the European Union and Canada, as well as choosing whether to trigger sanctions against Spain and Portugal for repeated violation of budgetary commitments, one of the arguments, the latter at the center of the accusations against Juncker, for excessive discretion.
Accusations also raised by the Polish and Slovakian governments, which, in addition to Brexit, accuse Juncker of having altered the balance between the member states and the Commission on the management of the distribution of refugees.
