Britain rebuffed in divisive pick for EU’s top job
Decision ‘increases the risk’ U.K. will leave bloc
BRUSSELS — European Union leaders swept aside British opposition and nominated Jean-Claude Juncker to the EU’s top job, further fraying ties with the U.K. before its planned referendum on membership of the bloc.
Government heads proposed Juncker, a 59-year-old former Luxembourg prime minister, as European Commission president after he ran for the post as the candidate of Europe’s Christian Democratic parties in EU-wide elections.
British Prime Minister David Cameron was out-voted by his fellow leaders, making it the first time such a decision wasn’t made unanimously.
Juncker is “a passionate European who can bridge differences,” Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, one of the earliest supporters of the Luxembourger, told reporters after the EU summit Friday in Brussels. “He’s also a realist politician, a person with very deep knowledge of Europe.”
Juncker’s nomination, which must be approved by the European Parliament, underscores the opposing forces driving the EU toward greater integration and Britain toward the exit. The 28-nation bloc used a new system to appoint a familiar face, leading Cameron to argue that both the procedure and the personality were wrong.
Five pan-European parties put forward candidates for commission chief in the run-up to EU Parliament elections in May that were won by the Christian Democrats. Exploiting a new treaty rule that requires leaders to take “into account” the election result when proposing a commission president, the parties aimed to prevent a traditional backroom deal.
Cameron gained the support of his Liberal Democrat coalition partners and Britain’s main opposition Labour party for his stance against Juncker and the method for choosing him.
“I’ve told EU leaders they could live to regret the new process for choosing the commission president,” Cameron said in a Twitter posting. “I’ll always stand up for U.K. interests.”
Only one other leader, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, joined Cameron in voting against the Luxembourger. The remaining 26 government heads voted in favour.
“The Juncker episode is clearly a substantial defeat for David Cameron and, without remedy, increases the risk” of Britain’s exit from the EU, Mats Persson, director of the U.K.-based Open Europe research institute, said in an emailed statement.
The commission presidency is among the most prized European posts because the organization is the EU’s engine, proposing and enforcing EU laws, monitoring national economies and negotiating trade deals. The incumbent, Portugal’s Jose Barroso, is due to step down in October, when his second five-year term ends.
Juncker’s nomination resulted from a compromise among national leaders and European parties over policies and personnel.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, a Socialist, tied his support for Juncker to a promise of more growth-boosting European policies after five years of German-fashioned budget austerity designed to stem the debt crisis.