Juncker has ‘solid backing’ from centre-right MEPs
The biggest group in the European Parliament threatens an ‘institutional crisis’ if EU leaders fail to nominate Juncker as Commission president at the end of the month.
Manfred Weber, the new leader of the centre-right European People’s Party, has said that there is near-unanimous backing in his group for Jean-Claude Juncker’s bid to become president of the European Commission.
Weber was the first leader of a political group in the European Parliament to be consulted today (12 June) by Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council. Van Rompuy has been tasked by national leaders to establish whether Juncker has enough support in the European Council and the Parliament to be confirmed as Commission president.
Speaking after the meeting, Weber said: “The main message today was that the EPP group, after talks in the presidency, after talks with all relevant political forces in the group, and after a long group meeting yesterday morning, stands as a man behind Jean-Claude Juncker and we expect of Herman Van Rompuy that he proposes to the [European] Council on 27 June Jean-Claude Juncker as the next president of the European Commission.”
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When pressed whether all MEPs in the group supported Juncker, Weber said that on all questions there would be a few who disagree. He declined to say whether MEPs from Hungary’s Fidesz and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia, both of which oppose Juncker’s nomination, backed the group’s message of support.
Weber said that there would be an “institutional crisis” if the European Council, which meets on 26-27 June to discuss the nomination, failed to confirm Juncker.
Weber said that despite a “smear campaign” against Juncker, his nomination had gained momentum recently. “I have experienced in the last few days a growing agreement on Jean-Claude Juncker at all levels and that is why I’m entering the coming weeks with confidence”.
Hannes Swoboda, the outgoing leader of the centre-left Socialists and Democrats group, said after meeting Van Rompuy today: “We reiterate that Jean-Claude Juncker – as the candidate of the largest group in the European Parliament – must have the right to be the first to seek a majority in the European Parliament, through proposing an adequate work programme.”
The main groups in the Parliament back the system of Spitzenkandidaten, under which the European Council is supposed to nominate the lead candidate of the parties with the most seats in the Parliament, or the lead candidate who manages to put together a parliamentary majority.