European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso addressed the plenary of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday, 12^th September, with his State of the Union Address. In his speech, he called for further integration on both economic and political level. He talked about political, economic and moral crisis of the old continent, which can only be solved, if we ‘’ stop trying to answer the questions of the future with the tools of the past.’’

Decisive Deal for Europe, as he called his vision, should equip Europe with new tools able to tackle all mentioned crises. Firstly, he talked about need to complete the European Single Market and increase energy independence of Europe, as it harms economic stability and creates tensions on inflation. Furthermore, he focused on issues concerning financial stability of the euro area. He expressed his belief that Greece will remain member of the euro area as long as it takes steps necessary to heal its bleeding economy.

Secondly, he talked about further steps towards banking and fiscal union. He presented main characteristics of a single European supervisory mechanism for all euro area banks. According to Barroso, ‘’the Commission will publish a blueprint for deepening the economic and monetary union still this autumn’’. He also welcomed the decision of the ECB to operate on secondary markets with governmebt bonds called Outright Monetary Transactions. Finally, he called for ‘’federation of nation states’’, even though he stressed out that it would ultimately require a new Treaty. His ambitious speech provoked both positive and negative reactions. Markets reacted very positively, as they received all the assurances they needed – the ECB’s decision to carry out Outright Monetary Transactions, Barroso’s commitment to reform together as well as Germany’s yes to the ESM.

For more information, click here.