António Vitorino made a speech on 4 December dealing with the future of Europe and of its legal protection system on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Court of Justice of the EU. He focussed on three main issues:

1. the political challengese facing the EU and the euro zone, and especially European elections in 2014, doubts harboured by grass-roots opinion, completing the EMU architecture and the disintegration of the single financial market;

2. juxtaposing the euro zone and the EU, and resorting to differentiation;

3. and the role of the CJEU in a new political context, with a larger role as a European Constitutional Court and because of the increasing importance of the areas of freedom, security and justice.