Jean-Claude Juncker has compared British membership of the EU to a doomed romance and suggested it is time for Britain to get a divorce from Europe.
It is the first time the president of the European Commission has publicly contemplated a British exit and he reinforced his message by insisting he would not get down on his knees to beg Britain to stay.
“People shouldn’t stay together if the conditions aren’t the same as when things started. It’s easy to fall in love and more difficult to stay together,” he said in Paris this weekend.
“I am for the respect of member states, respect between the institutions and member states. I am against all forms of grovelling.”
Mr Juncker, whose appointment to the EU’s top job was opposed by David Cameron, told an elite audience of French officials that he was ready to discuss British demands for treaty change, but set out “red lines”.
In a blow to the Prime Minister, the commission president said the EU would reject, without debate, Conservative calls to change treaties to give national authorities more powers to stop-large scale inflows of migrants from Eastern Europe.
“When one mentions the end of the free circulation of workers, there can be no debate, dialogue or compromise,” he said. “We can fight against abuses but the EU won’t change the treaties to satisfy the whim of certain politicians.” » | Bruno Waterfield, Brussels | Sunday, January 18, 2015
