Jean-Claude Juncker: The Interview
EUnews live from Dairghaxburo
22-08-2020
Juncker was ready, also was the interviewer, who was Nikola de Rossi. Both were having a nice talk before entering live. Juncker wasn't nervous, in fact, he wanted an interview in a TV channle that could be seen anywhere in Europe. And that's why EUnews came out. The interview, completely in English, was made from the hotel he was staying and hours before a rally he would do later. The EUnews countdown and further intro came live, and after it finished, the interview started:

NdR: Good afternoon and welcome to this Interview with Jean-Claude Juncker, Internal Affairs Commissioner since May and now candidate to get a 2nd term in office. I'm Nikola de Rosi and we are live from the Duxburian Union's capital city, Dairghazburo. Mr. Juncker, is a pleasure to be here this afternoon with you. What are your feelings about this interview?
JCJ: Good afternoon Nikola and also I would to say good afternoon to those seeing this interview all around Europe. I really wanted this interview to take place and I'm very happy about coming here and answering your questions and also all the Europeans' questions concerning my campaign and attemt to get a 2nd term in office.
NdR: First question Mr. Juncker. During your campaign, you have said you want a better Europe and also, your vision of the region is like if it was a team. Why do you think the European Union is like a team and what should we upgrade in the EU?
JCJ: The European Union is a common project, not somes' project. During the past years, we have been able to see how the European Commissioner and Councillors had to reach agreements, cooperate, unite into Eurogroups and more importantly, work together to achieve what they really wanted. Europe can't be seen as a way to get unique benefits from it, but as a region that works together for making everyone's lifes easier. About the second question I think Europe still has a long path to walk, in diplomacy, in Climate Change and every single competence the European Union got through the years.
NdR: We have seen that you have focused on the matters that, in your opinion, are important for Europe, but not into a reform of the European Institutions, which has been a very commented topic during your 1st term as Commissioner for Internal Affairs. What do you think about these proposals and more importantly, would they give extra representations to minorities like PEL members for example?
JCJ: The proposed reform of the European Institutions is not a good idea being sincere. At the moment, European nations get a fair representation and voice on the Council proposals. Introducing a proportional system would make some small nations to have less representations and newcomers would have to wait until the next election to choose the members of the new council. About other Eurogroups, which I wouldn't call minorities as every single support deserves respect, it would be difficult to get representation. When the topic came out, I talked with an expert in EU politics which gave me the example of Spain: Spain is a very pro-EPA country, as the ruling is an EPA party, and it has an absolute majority. If a 52% of the voters vote for EPA, and the other 48% would slit between 3 parties, we would get a majority of EPA members being elected, unrepresenting other options like PEL, MEGA, ELDR or any independent that could run. It would be unfair.
NdR: I would like to talk about the Juncker App or Junckapp like many people call it. Mennrimiak banned it after protests against you were hosted in the country, and despite not having a good start, it has reached 102 millions downloads. Is the European Commission working on it or do you think that the maximum success has been reached?
JCJ: The European Commission app is always being upgraded and developed. In the European Assembly meeting, new ideas were given and now we are working on a new version, but we haven't reached the maximum success, as that's completely impossible. Nothing or no one is perfect on this region, and the app is not perfect. In the European Commission webpage, we opened a feedback section time ago to allow European citizens to tell us what features would they like to see on it. I can reveal that we are working on another fix, Euroapp 2.0, which would include the possibility to message Commissioners, and they would be able to get a videoconference with you, as answering your message. Commissioners would be able to start meetings with the app users and have a nice chat with them, receiving feedback. If this is a popular thing, we would start working on taking the app to the Council.
NdR: On a recent interview, the independent Premier Commissioner candidate, Walter Cocx said your 5G idea was "an expensive bigwig project". Do you think he is right or he is wrong?
JCJ: That's his opinion, but i can guarantee is not an expensive project. While some want to get satellites and things like that, we want to introduce 5G along with private companies. He also said that money does not grow in the trees, and we need to take that in count. What I would like to do is subsidising enterprises to get the 5G moving, as using TV aerials to let that connection reach every single place in Europe. This would not be the first time the European Union gives subsides and then gets a revenue from this. If you look properly, those companies will ay their taxes, and the money from those taxes go to each member state government. Each member states gives money to the European Union, which means the money will return at any point.
NdR: Mr. Juncker, before we move to the Europeans' questions, I would like to ask you about your expectations for the results. Do you think you'll get a 2nd term?
JCJ: I really want to get a 2nd term in office, to get those ideas moving and also to let my successor a better Europe than the one we had 4 months ago. I think I have chances of winning, but I won't be the winner until the results are announced. That depends of the Europeans and what their choice is. Winning or losing, I'll always show respect for my rivals as I did in May.
NdR: So now we have got into the Europeans questions. We have got 5 questions for you. The first one is from a young girl called Alejandra, from Spain. The question is: "Mr. Juncker, do you think that the European countries will be for getting a climate pact?"
JCJ: Thank you for your great question Alejandra. To get a common agreement between the different member states, you need to negotiate, meet and make proposals that every government supports. Being the Commissioner for Internal Affairs is not an easy job, because you need to be able to mediate and also know what every single European Union country would like to see from the European Institutions. But I personally think that if work hard for an agreement, we will get one.
NdR: The second question comes from Czech Slavia. Lukáš Dostál asked this: "Mr. Juncker, what is your position on nuclear weapons?"
JCJ: Thanks for your question Lukáš. I think that the current European system to regulate nuclear weapons is the best way to control rogue states don't get weapons and that no member state threats another or does crazy things with them. With that said, I think the ENAA does a great job and they have my whole support.
NdR: The next question is from Gert Schuylers, bin collector for Telum City Council, in Inimicus. He's asking the following question: "Mr. Juncker, how are you going to pay for all the stuff you are proposing?"
JCJ: Thank you for your very important question Gert. Well, I have 2 types of proposals: Those how will be funded by subsides and the European Union won't pay for it completely and those how will requiere funds from the European Union. The first type won't become a loss of money as that money will return to the budget at some point, so there's nothing to worry about that at the moment. But I want to focus on the 2nd type of proposals. This year budget reached the amazing value of €73,267,821,908.85. Of that money, we expended €31,733,835,111.70, meaning that the European Union got a surplus of €41,533,986,797.15 which is returned to the member states. The European Economy is growing every year, which means that the surplus could be bigger the next year if we keep the same estructure. Now, if we add some new charges to the budget, the surplus will decrease. What we have to do is thinking if we can afford it, if we need it and most importantly, to not lose our mind. If we start to expend the money anywhere without thinking if member states citizens and governments will get benefits from these proposals, we will become deficitary. So that's why we need to promiss according to what we can afford, which is what I'm doing. You can trust me, I won't expend the money on stupid things, but on things we can all take benefits from.
NdR: Forth question comes from Icholasen. Laulw Moran has asked: "Commissioner, what was your best achievement in office and why?"
JCJ: Thank you for your really interesting and hard question Laulw. Before answering to it, I want to tell you that I will always stand on the Free and only Icholasen side, and that we are working to get your lands back as faster as we can. Now, getting into the answer. I think my best achievement in office was to get 16 leaders to seat in the seat in the same room and in the same table. Setting up the first European Assembly meeting was a very important challenge for me, one of my promises, so that's why I consider it my best achievement. Anyway, bringing peace back to Eastern Haane was another great achievement, which I'm very proud of.
NdR: And finally, the last question comes from Ria Levion, from the Duxburian Union. " Commissioner, on the campaign trail, you mentioned desire to create a European Police force. The last time a "EUROPOL" proposal came to the Council, it was widely and soundly rejected. What is different about your proposal and why should member states give up their own policing to a less-accountable entity half a continent away?"
JCJ: This a really good question, and I would like to thank Ria for it. My EUROPOL proposal is not intended to create a proper police force, with independet officers from other European Police corps, but to enhance cooperation between the different corps all around Europe. For example, if a top searched criminal in the Duxburian Union hid in Spain, but the police didn't know exactly where, both Police forces would be able to deploy in Spain and cooperate to find the criminal before he dissapears once again.