By The Daily Journalist.
The Heads of State and Government of the EU have designated the Luxembourg politician, Jean-Claude Juncker as the new President of the European Commission. The decision has been taken with the vote for all countries except the UK and Hungary, who voted against.
President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, has given the news via Twitter: “.Decision made! The European Council proposes to Jean-Claude Juncker as the next president of the European Commission.”
The appointment must now be ratified by the European Parliament by a vote and a secret ballot requiring absolute majority. The compromise reached between the European People’s Party (EPP), which is a candidate Juncker-socialist (S & D) and the Liberals (ALDE) suggests that there will be no surprises in the full July 16.
‘Juncker Commission’
In any case, the new ‘Juncker Commision’ will not begin work until 1 November. Until that date the president-elect will have to conform his curatorial team and get the approval of the European Parliament. All other appointments, including that of High Representative and President of the European Council, will be discussed at an extraordinary summit the same July 16, after the appointment of Juncker’s official. EU sources said, although not participate in the meeting, the opinion of the Luxembourg politician will be taken into account in selecting the next head of European diplomacy.
British Prime Minister David Cameron, has led to the last opposing Juncker. This morning he had said it was “the wrong person” and the vote was, along with his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban, who alone has opposed.
The president of the ‘popular front’ in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber, was the first to react to the appointment and expressed his satisfaction that the European leaders have respected this method of choice until now unpublished, in which the candidate with more votes in the European election force would be proposed by the European Council.
“The voice of European citizens has been heard. With this decision the Heads of State and Government have taken an important step towards greater democracy and transparency in Europe,” he noted in a statement.
