Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/347048
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 16 JULY 2014 News JEANCLAUDE Juncker was elected European Commission President yesterday (15 July) after promising a more social Europe and paying tribute to the major in- tegrationist politicians of the pre- vious generation. The former Luxembourg PM, who has been on and around the EU stage for the last two decades, received 422 votes, easily surpass- ing the minimum 376 needed. Of the 729 MEPs who took part, 250 voted against him, 47 abstained and 10 votes were disqualified. "The election of Jean-Claude Juncker to President of the Europe- an Commission is good for the Eu- ropean Union, it is good for Malta and it is a victory for democracy," David Casa, head of the PN's MEP delegation, said. "He is the people's choice and has shown time and again that he is willing to listen and that he is will- ing to act. He has pushed forward a reform agenda and a concrete vision for Europe, and his proposals for job creation and economic growth, and his drive to make immigration asylum policy more equitable, have shown that he is the right person for the job," Casa said. In a wide-ranging speech, Juncker touched upon the different issues that will face Europe in the next few years, speaking on the need for a true Common European Asylum system and for more solidarity be- tween the north and south of Eu- rope. "Migration is not just a prob- lem for Malta, Italy, Cyprus and Greece. It is a problem for Europe," Juncker said, adding that he will entrust a Commissioner with spe- cial responsibility for migration to work together with all member states and with the third countries most concerned. The Party of European Socialists welcomed the vote. "Today marks the move from process to policy. From now until 2019, the PES will press unrelent- ingly to ensure that Juncker's Com- mission pursues a more progres- sive path," PES president Sergei Stanishev said. "Juncker has made important promises on an investment plan, social protection for European workers, a progressive investment strategy, and an expansion of the Youth Guarantee. We will hold him to these commitments and ensure that his Commission does not pursue a 'business as usual' ap- proach." Stanishev said this was "a good day for representative democracy" in the EU. "We have made history today. Eu- ropean elections will never be the same after this vote. The people of Europe now have a direct say in who leads the EU and which political programme that person will adopt. The PES will show over the coming years why the EU needs a radically more progressive approach." In a 50-minute speech before the ballot, the centre-right politician said he wanted the European Com- mission to be "very political" and indicated he will try and revive the power of the institution - seen as sidelined after member states han- dled the long-running economic crisis. He pledged to revive the "com- munity method" - whereby the EU commission is the driver of EU law-making and strongly differen- tiated himself with the outgoing commission - which is associated with austerity-f lavoured policies - by giving major focus to social is- sues in his speech. "You can't achieve competitive- ness by getting rid of social securi- ty," he said, noting that the "inter- nal market is not more important than social affairs." He pledged to use €300bn over the next three years for projects that focus on energy, infrastruc- ture, and digital issues. Other promises include making a lobbyist register obligatory, mak- ing documents around a controver- sial EU-US trade agreement public, and putting an end to the EU deal- ing with "every tiny problem". 24 Download the MaltaToday App now Juncker elected Commission president with 422 votes Court stops mother from relocating to US with daughter DANIEL MIZZI A 25-year-old mother's bid to relocate to the USA with her 10-year-old daughter was brought to a halt by a Family Court after it ruled that the proposed relocation "was not in the child 's best interests." The mother, whose name cannot be published for legal reasons, told the court she wished to further her studies in the USA, and that she re- quested that her daughter ac- companies her. The daughter told the court that in the event of her mother moving to the USA, she would want to stay with her and not her father. The move was how- ever, strongly opposed by the daughter's father who told the court that the minor had reached an age where she had friends in Malta, and where she needed stabilit y. Conse- quently he argued, "relocating to the USA would not be in the child 's best interests." In addition, the father told the court that since the mother had relatives in the USA, there was a risk that his daughter would not return to Malta, and added that he did not have the financial means to visit his daughter in the USA. The young mother, who be- came pregnant at the age of 16 from a relationship with the defendant, hit out at her daughter's father, claiming that he had known from the outset that she wished to move to the USA. "I find it absurd that a man can get a 16-year-old pregnant through lies and malicious in- tent, fully aware of her dreams for the future, and then go on to restrict her future possibili- ties and dreams while he goes on pleasantly with his life," the young mother said. Court-appointed psychologi- cal experts determined that the daughter's relocation to the USA was not in her best inter- est, and held that if the daugh- ter were to move, she would miss her maternal grandfather while her relationship with her father would suffer. Taking the experts' submis- sions into account, Mr Justice Robert Mangion decreed that relocating the minor to the USA was not in the child 's best interest at this stage of her life.