Suggestions for EU According to "The State of The Union" by Juncker

The State of the Union

After reading the State of the Union Address presented by President Juncker one can single out two suggestions that can be perceived as highly relevant under current conditions. First of all, it is worth mentioning the need for more efficient and coordinated fight against terrorist offenses across the EU (Juncker 2018). This suggestion is highly relevant due to the number of terrorist attacks that occurred in the EU over the last five years.

Migration processes in Europe, designed to solve the problem of the demographic crisis, have engendered many conflicts in the Old World, the main of which is the radicalization of the Muslim population of the continent and, as a result, a sharp increase in the number of terrorist acts in the EU. Dependence on the military power of the United States weakened vigilance of representatives of local special services. Therefore, the whole system of regional security and cooperation in the field of countering terrorism needs to be strengthened and re-interpreted by politicians implementing the EU leadership. The last decade marked the decline of the European system of state administration, which has become more and more acute with the years.

Faced with a serious problem in the face of a shortage of workers, especially low-wage workers, experiencing an urgent need to address this issue, the European leadership, first of all in the form of Western European countries, decided to relocate to its territory citizens of the Middle East and North Africa. Unfortunately, this policy has led to a failure for the current EU authorities in many areas: economic, socio-cultural, political, and also forced to think about the ability of European special services and law enforcement agencies to ensure the security of the EU.

Since the beginning of 2017, more than 15 resonant terrorist acts have been carried out, while many of the extremists were already known to the special services and were on the blacklisted database of the European Union as undesirable persons. One of the main pros of the first suggestion would be the improved system of terrorist detection and tracking that would allow law enforcement agencies to deter terrorist attacks in the future. Besides, such a suggestion that addresses the problem of terrorism will enhance the awareness of the people about terrorism, its scale, and potential consequences.

As for the cons of the suggestion, one can mention the arrival of right-wing parties and their leaders in power in the EU countries (the problem of terrorism as part of political agitation can contribute to the success of such parties). This process has already been launched in connection with the growth of nationalist sentiments in the region, and it gives fruits to leaders of right-wing parties (for instance, Marine Le Pen only in the second round lost to Emmanuel Macron in the struggle for the presidency in France). In order to reverse the negative trend that has been taking shape in recent years, it is necessary to take a whole range of measures aimed at countering terrorists.

Ultimately, it is necessary to realize that it is precisely from today's actions of the leadership of the European countries that the future of the continent will depend, the further prospects for the development of Europe, as well as European security and national identity.Another suggestion that is critical not only for the EU but also for the rest of the world is the need to act as one, especially when it comes to the issues of sustainable development and reduction of CO2 emissions. In particular, leaving a healthier planet behind for those that follow was among the key suggestions made by J.-C. Juncker in the State of the Union Address 2018 (Juncker 2018).

The problem of climate change has become one of the most urgent recently. In this context, the environmental practices of the EU should not be limited to the provisions of the Paris Agreement. In particular, the region should also take into consideration environmental issues in some other critical areas such as the Arctic region. In accordance with the main tasks set in the Integrated Arctic Policy (environmental protection and control of climate change, ensuring sustainable use of resources, deepening international cooperation), the EU intends to act in three key areas such as support of scientific research; and achieving sustainable economic development based on reasonable use of resources and environmental expertise.

The pros of the second suggestion is that it will contribute and further expand the scope of the activities of similar programs and initiatives. As a potential cons of the suggestion is its broad scope and lack of specific tools for its implementation. Scientific cooperation is called upon to play a critical role in understanding the complex dynamics of the climate change. The EU participates in a number of multilateral agreements aimed at promoting science, research, and innovation. One large-scale project is the Horizon 2020.

Combining research and innovation, Horizon 2020 allows creating conditions for sustainable development, paying particular attention to science, industrial leadership, and solving social problems. Its goal is to provide European science with world-class technologies and to remove obstacles to innovation. The European Union finances programs aimed at ensuring security. These include space programs (for example, Copernicus) and EU targeted research projects that contribute to the maintenance of maritime security by monitoring the movement of ships and the state of ice, and the provision of navigation services. The interest of the European Union is dictated primarily by the need to expand economic activity in the northern latitudes, positioning itself as a vital subject of the Arctic area. The EU also sees itself as the future leader in the development of the region's economic potential on a sustainable basis.