Brussels, 05/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 5 June, the European leaders who attended the G7 summit focused their attention on defining the project for Europe, refusing to be drawn on the question of the names of the individuals who will hold the principal European jobs by the end of this year.
“The aim was not to reach a consensus but exchange views on the process, not only on the persons but on the substance”, said President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy. Next week, he is to start consultations with the presidents of the main political groups at the European Parliament.
“On the programme, the aim is to reach a common position”, said German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The task at hand appears a tough one. “In my view, what matters is reinforcing cooperation within the economic and monetary union; for the United Kingdom, it is the principle of 'Better regulation'; for François Hollande, as for all of us, it is growth and competitiveness”, she said. Sweeping away the suggestion that the debates aim to make concessions to the United Kingdom, she repeated that Jean-Claude Juncker was the candidate of the Christian Democrat party, EPP, a position she also defended at the most recent European summit, on Tuesday 27 May. “At the last summit, I said that it would take time, focusing first of all on the programme. We have to be quick, but get into the heart of the matter. I repeated this at the Bundestag: Jean-Claude Juncker is our candidate”, she stressed.
For many leaders, the sequence beginning in Brussels clearly represents the opportunity to change Europe's direction, the choice of names stemming from the priorities to be decided upon.
“We need a personality, a man or a woman, who is capable of representing the mission we wish to assign to Europe. The politics of rigour and austerity have shown their limits. Today, we need to be aware that we have to turn over a new page. The individuals have to be the consequence of this reasoning”, argued President of the Italian Council Matteo Renzi. He went on to warn that “going to war over the names without first of all discussing the project is the best way of scoring an own-goal and strengthening the position of the anti-European parties”. Italy is believed to be behind a document on the thematic priorities of the EU which has been submitted to several delegations.
British Prime Minister David Cameron referred to the results of the European elections, with particular reference to the victories in France and the United Kingdom of Europhobic and Eurosceptic parties. On this basis, “you can stick your head in the sand or you have a strategy”, he said. My strategy is to “have people who understand the need for change, reforms”, he stressed, adding that he believes that this position is “widely shared” among the European Council. He reiterated the UK's desire to repatriate certain European competences before putting the new relationship between his country and the EU to the British citizens in a referendum in 2017.
Juncker at the EPP Group at EP. On Thursday, Juncker presented his priorities to the EPP Group at the European Parliament. According to the Twitter accounts of several MEPs in the group, he said that, if appointed to the helm of the Commission, he would not be the Secretary General of the European Council. The former Luxembourg prime minister went on to promise to do all in his power to “keep the United Kingdom as a constructive member of the EU, but this must not be a one-way discussion”. (MB, AN, CG, EL)