Yesterday, Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker delivered the annual State of the Union to European Parliament. Here are statements on the address from selected members of the European Movement International:

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE): “This is no time to sit back and to relax. People don’t want ‘this’ Europe, they want to change Europe”, said party leader Guy Verhofstadt. Click here for more reactions from ALDE and here for more from Verhofstadt.

European Trade Union Confederate (ETUC): “The speech painted a rosy picture of economic recovery and was too light on proposals for social justice.” – General Secretary Luca Visentini. See his full statement here.

European People’s Party (EPP): “Jean-Claude Juncker has placed the European people at the heart of Europe’s vision for its future. The EPP could not agree more.” – EPP President Joseph Daul. Click here for more.

Employers of Public Services and Services of General Interest (CEEP): “CEEP was particularly interested to hear President Juncker calling for a pan-European list at the upcoming elections in 2019; it is this sort of ideas that will make citizens realise that the European democracy is more than the sum of the 27 Member States’ reality”, said Valeria Ronzitti, Secretary General. Find her full statement here.

European Environmental Bureau (EEB): The EEB welcomes President Juncker’s aim to keep Europe as a leader on climate change but regards this as meaningless without commitments to much steeper emission cuts by the EU to be achieved by 2030. Click here for comments from EEB Secretary General Jeremy Wates.

Party of European Socialists (PES): Sergei Stanishev, president of the Party of European Socialists, welcomed President Juncker’s commitment to European solidarity and democracy in today’s State of the Union address — but highlighted the lack of significant progress in protecting social rights. Click here for his full statement.

European Youth Forum (EYF): EYF awarded Juncker the grade of B – “make sure to work more with young people and next time you get an A”. Read Juncker’s speech with EYF comments and annotations here.