The future of the EU in Jean-Claude Juncker's State of the Union speeches

Abstract

The 2014–19 European Parliament legislature faced a number of crises which threatened the future of the European project. The discontent within the European Union was evident in the 2014 European Parliament Elections, which saw the rise in popularity of various Eurosceptic parties across Europe. The aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and the migration crisis challenged the dynamics within the European Union, while politicians across the region struggled to propose long-term solutions. In 2016, the European Union faced another threat following the Brexit referendum, which saw the majority of the British citizens voting to leave the European Union. All these challenges were reflected in the discourse used by the President of the EU Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker. As President of the European Commission, he had to give the State of the Union speeches between 2015 and 2018 where he sought to provide a vision for the future of the EU. The State of the Union addresses, delivered by the Presidents of the European Commission, have been used as tools to bring the European Union (EU) closer to its citizens and to strengthen the collaboration between the European Parliament (EP) and Commission. Whilst not as popular as their U.S. counterparts, these speeches are still met with high expectations and criticism due to the fact that they project the potential future trajectory of the European Union. This is the reason why this article evaluates the State of the Union speeches given by Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. It attempts to understand how the Commission’s plans on the future of the EU evolved between 2015 and 2018.