Brussels, 10/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - MEPs in the Eurosceptic Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy Group (EFDD) appreciated that Jean-Claude Juncker, the candidate designated by the European Council to be the new president of the European Commission, came to discuss with them, but its joint leader, Nigel Farage (of the United Kingdom), said: “We are very pleased that Mr Juncker chose to come and speak to the most Eurocritical group in the European Parliament which says something about him as a person. We had a polite exchange of views but Mr Juncker made it absolutely clear that, on the question of the free movement of peoples across the European Union, there was no question of any negotiation of that position”.
In a statement published shortly after Juncker's visit, Farage said: “He surprised us and is clearly trying to charm the sceptical vote in the Parliament by denying the existence of a European people. This runs contrary to everything I have heard here after being a member of the European Parliament for the last 15 years”.
Juncker, who hails from Luxembourg, said: “I need support that's why I'm here, when I was saying that a EU people doesn't exist, I meant in the sense that national peoples exist”. Juncker said he wanted a fair Europe for all and did not want to put as much power in Brussels at any cost. He said he was a federalist, specifying that a federalist as he understands the term, wants to decentralise things that do not belong to the centre and centralise aspects of sovereignty that are exercised better when pooled.
Juncker said he wanted a “fair deal” for the United Kingdom as long as the UK does not block the eurozone if it, the Eurozone, wanted to increase internal coherence. He made it clear that the free movement of individuals was non-negotiable. It is for member states to tackle abuse, he said, but that was no reason for moving away from the principle of freedom of movement. Farage reacted: “He showed himself to be completely out of touch by saying migration within the EU was a 'marginal issue'. In saying this, he will take the UK closer to the EU exit door”.
Each delegation in the EFDD will take its own decision about whether to vote for Juncker in Strasbourg on 15 July.
The British section, UKIP, keeps saying that Juncker's name has never been on any ballot paper in any EU member state and the fact that his is the only name on the ballot paper does not go down well either.
Italian EFDD members are critical about what Juncker said to them. On Facebook, Ignazio Corrao said Juncker had been weak when quizzed about how MEPs had closed ranks to prevent the EFDD from gaining chairmanship of any committees at the EP. On Facebook, MEP Isabella Adinolfi criticised what Juncker had said about the structural funds and the troika.
Juncker joked that the fact that there was a secret ballot would be to the advantage of EFDD members because nobody would know which of their MEPs had voted for him, but it is unlikely that he will get many EFDD votes. (EL)