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| Jean-Claude Juncker this week began his five[-]term as president of the European Commission |
Speaking after the first weekly meeting of his new Brussels administration, the president of the European Commission bragged that he was “not the type who trembles, in front of prime ministers or at any other time”.
“I'm not frightened of any prime ministers,” he said. The Conservative leader was humiliated at a summit in July when he tried to stop Mr Juncker, a passionate federalist, from becoming president of the commission.
Mr Cameron was out-voted, after being betrayed by the German Chancellor and Mr Juncker was installed in the commission, taking up his new post this week.
He was then slapped down by Angela Merkel, again, and left isolated at another summit two weeks ago when angrily refusing a commission demand that Britain paid an extra £1.7 billion surcharge to the EU budget.
Chancellor Merkel, with French support and backing from a majority of other EU leaders, told him to pay the bill.
“I don't have a problem with David Cameron. He has problem with the other prime ministers,” boasted Mr Juncker on Wednesday.
Britain faces humiliation over the budget demand after Mr Cameron told MPs that he would refuse to pay the full amount or meet a December 1 payment deadline.
A meeting of EU finance ministers on Friday is expected to tell George Osborne, the Chancellor, that he must hand over the full surcharge to the Brussels budget. In a concession, billed by EU officials as a compromise but unlikely to satisfy Tories, Britain will be allowed to pay the £1.7bilion in instalments. » | Bruno Waterfield, Brussels | Wednesday, November 05, 2014
