Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Growing Calls for Jean-Claude Juncker Resignation


THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Bloomberg, the financial newswire, says Mr Juncker 'needs to go' and has been 'foisted on' the countries of the EU

There were growing calls for Jean-Claude Juncker to resign as President of the European Commission last night amid allegations that he presided over potentially illegal tax breaks given to multinational companies operating in Luxembourg.

Bloomberg, the influential financial newswire, devoted its editorial to a call for Mr Juncker’s resignation over revelations multinational companies were allegedly allowed to create complicated structures to avoid billions of pounds of tax when he was Prime Minister of the country.

It follows outrage from Conservatives MPs who see him an arch-federalist who believes in an "ever-closer" European Union, who will make it more difficult for David Cameron to renegotiate Britain’s relationship with Brussels before holding an in-out referendum in 2017 over his appointment.

The editorial, entitled “Jean-Claude Juncker Needs to Go”, describes Mr Juncker as a “bad choice for the job” who has been “foisted on the bloc's 28 national governments by a European Parliament eager to expand its powers.”

The editors of the financial wire say it is now “becoming clear now just how poor a decision” the appointment of Mr Juncker was after details emerged of revelations of potentially illegal tax breaks given to multinationals in Luxembourg, of which he was prime minister for almost 20 years. » | Georgia Graham, Political Correspondent | Monday, November 10, 2014