Chancellor Angela Merkel has reportedly called European Parliament efforts to force through Jean-Claude Juncker as next European Commission president a "declaration of war" against EU governments.
A week after elections which EU leaders said would boost European democracy and transparency, the bloc is wracked by disunity and a high-stakes campaign lead by Britain's David Cameron to block the ambitions of Mr Juncker, the lead candidate for the conservative European People's Party (EPP) that won the election.
The Lisbon Treaty says that EU leaders should "take note" of European parliamentary elections in filling top EU jobs. The parliament believes it is on an equal footing with the European Council, where leaders meet. Last Tuesday, Mr Cameron urged fellow council members not to "wave through" the parliament's proposal, reportedly warning that Mr Juncker's appointment would destabilise his government and Britain's future in the EU.
‘1980s’ figure
“A face of the 1980s cannot solve the problems of the next five years,” said Mr Cameron to confidantes, according to
Der Spiegel
.
The German magazine reported how, after 1am last Monday morning, Mr Juncker offered his Socialist challenger, Martin Schulz, the job of deputy European Commission president. The two reportedly agreed their respective camps should work in a "grand coalition" in the next European Parliament.
At a Brussels meeting on Tuesday evening, however, many European leaders expressed alarm at a potential parliamentary political power-grab being led by Mr Juncker and Mr Schulz, the outgoing parliamentary president.
Dr Merkel has reportedly vowed to assist Mr Cameron and Sweden's Fredrick Reinfeldt in blocking Mr Juncker's ambitions.
According to EPP meeting participants, she attacked as “outrageous” parliament’s efforts to prevent heads of state and government choosing the commission president they felt would best deliver the kind of politics the EU needs.
In a heated contribution to the EPP meeting, Mr Juncker reportedly warned political chiefs present that EU leaders had “no place” trying to decide the agenda of the next commission.
Such political interference, the would-be commission president warned, would take place “over my dead body”.
Dr Merkel’s cool stance towards Mr Juncker was reflected in her post-meeting press conference on Tuesday evening, in which she said leaders would consider a “broad tableau” of candidates for the EU top jobs – with the ex-Luxembourg chief by no means a shoo-in.
Candidacy support
After days of protest that she was disregarding the EU election result, including from the influential
Bild
tabloid, Dr Merkel insisted in public on Friday that she supported Mr Juncker’s candidacy.
According to a poll in Der Spiegel, some 78 per cent of Germans want the winner of the Schulz-Juncker race to be next commission president.
Facing an uphill battle, Mr Juncker broke a self-imposed interview embargo yesterday. In Germany's Bild am Sonntag he said Europe "mustn't be blackmailed" by political opposition to his candidacy and that he was "confident of being elected the next commission president in mid-July".
