Texit? EU President Juncker Threatens to Promote Texas Independence as Trump Backs Brexit

Donald Trump has been warned by the head of the EU Commission to watch out for breakaway states in America. Jean-Claude Juncker claimed that if President Trump keeps on encouraging EU countries to leave the bloc, he should expect the same thing to happen in the US.

A Defeat - and a Disaster

THE INDEPENDENT – EDITORIAL: David Cameron’s handling of Jean-Claude Juncker has helped to create the worst of all possible EU worlds

It was a defeat long foretold, but that does not diminish the scale of the debacle David Cameron suffered in Ypres last night. His tone afterwards was self-righteous: his fellow leaders would “live to regret” their support for Jean-Claude Juncker as the President of the European Commission, which was “a sad moment for Europe”. But his abject failure to halt the Juncker juggernaut, which gained the support of 26 out of 28 leaders, was an even sadder moment for Mr Cameron himself, and for Britain.

The candidacy of Mr Juncker, the former Prime Minister of Luxembourg, aroused enthusiasm among very few, even in the upper ranks of the Eurocrats. He is a walking, talking symbol of all that is out of date and out of touch about the union as currently constituted, and he was not even favoured by Angela Merkel, who was unimpressed by his handling of the euro crisis. But in a spectacular display of political miscalculation, Mr Cameron converted that indifference and dislike into reluctant but almost total support, painting himself into a corner which in the end he shared only with Viktor Orban, the authoritarian Prime Minister of Hungary.

As Labour’s shadow Foreign Secretary, Douglas Alexander, pointed out earlier this week, Mr Cameron had made the mistake of “playing the man, not the ball” over Mr Juncker’s appointment, taking an aggressively personal tone against a figure who is immensely well knitted into conservative forces across the bloc. Read on and comment » | Editorial | Friday, June 27, 2014

EU Backs Juncker to Head Commission in Blow to UK

Jean-Claude Juncker is the choice of the European People's Party,
which won the most seats in the European Parliament

BBC: EU leaders in Brussels have nominated former Luxembourg PM Jean-Claude Juncker to be president of the European Commission, in a blow to the UK.

Prime Minister David Cameron called it "a serious mistake". "This is going to be a long, tough fight," he said.

He had pushed for a vote on Mr Juncker - breaking with tradition - and 26 out of 28 countries backed him.

Only Mr Cameron and Hungarian PM Viktor Orban voted against him. Mr Juncker is also likely to win a vote by Euro MPs.

It is the most powerful job in Brussels - the Commission drafts EU laws, oversees national budgets, enforces EU treaties and negotiates international trade deals.

Mr Cameron believes Mr Juncker is too much in favour of closer political union and might block EU reform.

"This is a bad day for Europe... it hands new power to the European Parliament," Mr Cameron said. "This whole process has simply reinforced my conviction that the EU has to change." (+ video) » | Friday, June 27, 2014

Juncker Named as European Commission President, as Cameron Warns EU Could 'Regret' It

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: David Cameron has failed in his attempt to block the nomination of arch-federalist Jean-Claude Juncker as the next president of the European Commission

David Cameron’s bid to block Jean-Claude Juncker has ended in defeat after the arch-federalist was nominated as the next president of the European Commission.

Mr Juncker was confirmed as the official nominee at the end of a tense lunch in Brussels during which Mr Cameron told EU leaders they could “live to regret” their decision.

"This is a sad day for Europe," Mr Cameron is understood to have told his counterparts.

Herman Van Rompuy, the current president, said: “Decision made. The European Council proposes Jean-Claude Juncker as the next President of the European Commission.”

The Prime Minister has warned European leaders including Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, that it could push Britain towards EU exit. » | Peter Dominiczak, Assistant Political Editor, in Brussels | Friday, June 27, 2014

Juncker wird nächster EU-Kommissionspräsident »

Jean-Claude Juncker, l'insubmersible »

Merkel Backs Jean-Claude Juncker for European Commission President

THE GUARDIAN: Move deals blow to David Cameron's attempts to block Luxembourg's former prime minister from taking up the role

Angela Merkel has thrown her weight behind Jean-Claude Juncker for the next European commission leader, dealing a blow to David Cameron's attempts to block Luxembourg's former prime minister from taking up the role.

The German chancellor said at the National Catholic Congress in Regensburg: "I will now lead all negotiations in the spirit that Jean-Claude Juncker should become president of the European commission."

Both Merkel and Juncker's parties are members of the European People's party (EPP) bloc, the centre-right group that gained the most seats in Sunday's European parliament elections.

David Cameron, whose Conservative party left the EPP in 2009, as well as Hungary and Sweden's prime ministers have opposed Juncker, lobbying for a more reformist candidate. » | Philip Oltermann in Berlin | Friday, May 30, 2014


Merkel spricht sich klar für Juncker aus »