President Juncker’s speech at the European Parliament on the review of the Latvian Presidency and ahead of the Euro summit on Greece

Speaking in front of the European Parliament today, President Juncker praised the success of the Latvian Presidency saying it was an “efficient and determined Presidency focused on delivering concrete results”. He thanked the Latvian Presidency for notably having helped to deliver – through its excellent negotiation skills – the European Fund for Strategic Investments which is at the heart of the Investment Plan for Europe. Speaking on Greece ahead of the Euro Summit tonight, President Juncker said that “the ball is most definitely in the court of the Greek government” which now has to explain how it intends to move forward following the outcome of the referendum in Greece. He stressed the readiness of the Commission to play a constructive role and help the process: “The European Commission for its part is ready to do everything to get to an agreement within an acceptable timeframe.” He reiterated that “We don’t want Greece out of the Eurozone or the European Union, and we will continue to work on the reopening of negotiations.” With regards to his expectations ahead of tonight’s Euro Summit, President Juncker said that “We will sit down tonight and will try to get things going without rhetorical side-effects so that we can get to an agreeable solution. (…) The Commission would like to know what the “no” vote means, because I am told it’s not a no to Europe, and I am told it’s not a “no” to the euro. It cannot be a “no” to the proposals by the institutions, because they were no longer on the table.” Finally, President Juncker reiterated his strong determination to keep Greece firmly anchored in the eurozone: “My aim is to prevent Grexit. I am against Grexit,” he said adding that “In Europe there are no easy answers. Europe is about the permanent grappling for compromise solutions.” A full transcript of the speech and translations into EN, FR and EL can be found here.