Juncker wants the whole EU to be in the euro zone

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker urged member states to join the euro zone in his annual State of the European Union speech in which he outlined his vision for the post-Brexit EU. “If we want the euro to unite rather than divide our continent, then it should be more than the currency of a select group of countries. The euro is meant to be the single currency of the European Union as a whole,” he said. Juncker also proposed a number of institutional changes, including the creation of an EU finance minister and the widening of the Schengen area, in which passport-free travel is allowed. He also wants to combine the presidencies of the European Commission and the European Council which would be directly elected in the future. “Europe would be easier to understand if one captain was steering the ship,” Juncker explained. The EC president hopes that his proposal would make the bloc a unity, instead of the multi-speed approach put forward recently by France, where there would be two separate budgets, finance ministers, and parliaments for members in and outside of the euro zone. Juncker proposed EU funding and technical help to encourage non-euro members to get themselves into a position to join.