Juncker for President? Who is Juncker?

by N. Peter Kramer

German weekly Der Spiegel writes about Barroso’s succession process: ‘what one could call a rigged game anywhere else, is called democracy in Brussels’. According to one of the British Conservative MEPs is the concept of ‘Spitzenkandidaten’ - candidates for the position of Commission President put forward by the main pan-EU political parties - a ‘direct power grab by the European Parliament’. German Chancellor Angela Merkel didn’t agree with the Spitzenkandidaten process from the start because she knew there would be no agreement in the European Council.

Now it looks that she could ‘live’ with Jean-Claude Juncker, the candidate of the European People’s Party (EPP), as Barroso’s successor. British Prime Minister David Cameron still does not want Juncker to get the job as he views him as too much of an old-style European federalist who will obstruct his push to reform the European Union and persuade British voters of the merits of staying within the EU. 

The wheel of fortune spins. Juncker subsequently tweeted ‘I am more confident than ever that I will be the next European Commission President’. But who is Juncker? A poll (by Advanced Market Research) found out that only 8% of the European voters are able to identify him. In Germany three quarters of respondents were unable to name Juncker, in Britain 99% of voters said they had not heard of him.

Another key position in the European Commission is the highly visible post of High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. After the disaster called Lady Ashton, the European Council might want to nominate somebody capable. 

The present Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski looked certain to replace her but his boss, Prime Minister Tusk, aimed instead for a post ‘which is key from Poland’s point of view, energy or competition for instance’. Now, the name of Helle Thorning Schmidt, the Danish Prime Minister, is often mentioned as Ashton’s successor. See what a selfie can do for you.

Let’s wait and see. It is called European democracy…