EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Wednesday that he's aiming to generate 630 billion euros ($707 billion) worth of public and private investment by 2022. Cuts to funds committed to EU projects usually face strong resistance in the EU Parliament and from states that benefit the most from the money. "Indeed it was the usual recipe - more Europe, in this particular case, more military Europe".

The speech came several days before 27 European Union leaders - without British Prime Minister Theresa May - are set to meet in Slovakia to discuss Europe's future after Brexit.

But the difficulties of keeping Europe united were underscored on the eve of Juncker's speech when Luxembourg's foreign minister said Hungary should be suspended from the European Union for treating refugees like "animals". "But if one reads recent policy documents about French and German defence it is clear we are not talking about a complete merger of national armed forces".

The Lisbon Treaty, said Juncker, enables European Union member states to pool their defense capabilities, if they choose to do so, in the form of a permanent structured cooperation. "As for the initiative announced by Juncker, it is an attempt to reinforce federalist Europe, and nowadays people in Europe don't want it, so it is not a welcome initiative", he said. He said some early reality checks will come at the September 26-27 meeting of European Union defense ministers, and at a summit of bloc leaders scheduled for December.

"People in Europe don't want this petty envy between the various institutions", he said at the assembly in Strasbourg, France.

Michelle Obama Appears as Co-Host on 'Ellen' With Steph Curry
The first lady says her family will miss the staff the most because they helped raise 18-year-old Malia and 15-year-old Sasha .

To assist in jump-starting growth, Juncker also wishes to increase the lifetime of the European Fund for Strategic Investments, often called the "Juncker Fund", and double its financial capacity.

The EC proposed a minimum 90 days a year of "roam like home", but some members of the European Parliament have said this is not enough to realise the original promise of free roaming.

Nigel Farage, a British politician who campaigned for Britain to leave the European Union, said: "It is clear that no lessons are going to be learned from Brexit".

For now, Britain remains a member of the bloc, though an increasingly detached one, as the other 27 countries start to move on. "The lack of cooperation is something that is costing Europe 20 to 100 billion euros a year", Reuters cited him as saying. Juncker urged that to be done quickly and reiterated the European Union negotiating position that Britain could not retain its full European Union market access if it blocks free immigration from the EU. There could be no "a la carte access", he said. Tusk is taking a tough line by insisting that there will be no negotiations before article 50 - the mechanism triggering formal exit negotiations - is invoked.