The struggle over who will preside over the European Commission has begun. But the real debate is not about the personalities involved; it is about the degree to which Europeans are prepared to create the shared political space that is needed to manage the monetary union and secure Europe’s global leadership role.
ROME – A real struggle over who will preside over the European Commission has begun. Though the center-right European People’s Party won only a narrow plurality of 221 seats in the 751-seat European Parliament, center-left, green, and liberal MEPs have all rallied behind the EPP’s candidate, Jean-Claude Juncker, as the “legitimate” choice. The opposition, led by British Prime Minister David Cameron with the support of “sovereignists” across Europe, particularly in Scandinavia, but also in Hungary, contends that someone whom the majority of European citizens hardly know, cannot claim any kind of political legitimacy.
ROME – A real struggle over who will preside over the European Commission has begun. Though the center-right European People’s Party won only a narrow plurality of 221 seats in the 751-seat European Parliament, center-left, green, and liberal MEPs have all rallied behind the EPP’s candidate, Jean-Claude Juncker, as the “legitimate” choice. The opposition, led by British Prime Minister David Cameron with the support of “sovereignists” across Europe, particularly in Scandinavia, but also in Hungary, contends that someone whom the majority of European citizens hardly know, cannot claim any kind of political legitimacy.