Brussels, 03/02/2014 (Agence Europe) -German and Luxembourg media have spoken of Germany's Chancellor Angel Merkel's choice for the EPP candidate to succeed European Commission President José Manuel Barroso - and her support would go to former head of the Eurogroup, Jean-Claude Juncker, according to Welt am Sonntag and l'Essentiel.
On Sunday 2 February, the German newspaper said that 59-year-old Juncker should be the next president of the European Commission. Welt am Sonntag was quoting “well informed sources” both in Brussels and Berlin. The Financial Times also reported on its blog on 3 February that Juncker, the former prime minister of Luxembourg, had Merkel's full support for the presidency of the European Commission. The candidacies of European Commissioner for the Internal Market and Services Michel Barnier, Finland's Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen and Latvia's former prime minister Valdis Dombrovkis therefore seem to have faded into the background.
However, in France on Sunday 2 February, other media insisted on the fact that Merkel would reportedly rather support Christine Lagarde, the current head of the International Monetary Fund. It has recently been rumoured that Lagarde, too, has ambitions for the head of the Commission.
The EPP brushed aside these affirmations on Monday 3 February - on the grounds that the game is not yet over. “There are not even any official candidates yet”, said an EPP spokesperson, just “names that are being bandied around in the press”. The EPP also states that the selection process will only begin on 13 February, and will culminate at a congress in Dublin on 6-7 March - with everything still to play for, insist the spokespersons. (SP/transl.fl)