Brussels, 23/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - European Commission President José Manuel Barroso has cast doubts on the candidacy of Denmark's Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt for the presidency of the European Council.
“Helle Thorning-Schmidt is a very good Danish prime minister. From the discussions I've just had with her, I had the impression that she wanted to stay a very good Danish prime minister”, Barroso said on Sunday 22 June, hailing Denmark's exit from the excessive deficit procedure.
The name of Danish Social Democrat Thorning-Schmidt is regularly mentioned in the press as a possible successor to Herman Van Rompuy (from Belgium). The fact that Denmark, a country outside the eurozone, might take up this post could help the UK's Prime Minister David Cameron swallow the pill of Christian Democrat Jean-Claude Juncker (from Luxembourg) being appointed as European Commission president. Last week, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel said during a visit to Copenhagen that the presidency of the European Council should not necessarily be for someone from a eurozone country - before stating that this comment was not about Thorning-Schmidt. Thorning-Schmidt herself is doing nothing to deny the rumours that are buzzing about her future.
From the Social Democrats, other names are also mentioned for the presidency of the European Council - like that of Italy's former prime minister, Enrico Letta. Mario Draghi being head of the ECB could, however, put a brake on this application.
Unable to stop herself smiling at the repeated rumours of the Danish press, Thorning-Schmidt is focusing on the content of the European policies to be conducted. Over the weeks to come, “it is much more important (…) to focus on (…) what the EU should be doing over the next five years than who should be doing it”, she said. Denmark's interest is to ensure that the “integrity” of the EU is preserved, even though it is understandable that the eurozone countries must work together. Thorning-Schmidt wants the principle of subsidiarity to be respected and she said that Copenhagen is in favour of limiting the EU's intervention in areas where public action would be more effective at national level.
On her return from the Paris summit of Social Democrats (see other article), Thorning-Schmidt also underlined the importance of placing “growth and jobs” at the centre of political priorities. Nevertheless, none of the Social Democrats - “and this is my position as well” - wants a revision of the stability and growth pact, but all the “flexibility” it contains should be used, she added, believing that the backdrop of a slow exit from the crisis in Europe was not appropriate for a change in rules.
As for the presidency of the European Commission to be decided upon this week, Thorning-Schmidt believed it likely that the member states would nominate a person likely who brings together “broad support from the member states and also from the European Parliament”. She did not state Juncker in so many words. (MB)