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6/23/14

Juncker appears set to be named European Commission president despite Anglo-Saxon opposition- by Suzanne Lynch

There is growing expectation that Jean-Claude Juncker will be named as the next president of the European Commission at next week’s summit of EU leaders in Brussels, though a decision on the other EU top jobs is likely to be deferred until next month.

British prime minister David Cameron is facing an uphill battle to garner a blocking minority against the appointment of the former Luxembourg prime minister, with Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi expected to lend support to Mr Juncker. The nomination of Juncker emerged as a bargaining tool between the EU and Italy earlier this week, with the Italian prime minister pushing for greater flexibility in meeting deficit and debt targets set by Brussels in exchange for support for Juncker

French president François Hollande will today host a mini-summit of centre-left EU leaders today in Paris, which will be attended by Mr Renzi, Austrian chancellor Werner Faymann and Danish prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt among others. German chancellor Angela Merkel is understood to be favouring the early appointment of Mr Juncker in a bid to avoid a prolonged public debate that has already strained relations between London and Berlin.

While the European Parliament must approve the next commission president next month, no such approval is needed for the appointment of the head of the European Council or High Representative post.

Read more: Juncker appears set to be named European Commission president - European News | Latest News from Across Europe | The Irish Times - Sat, Jun 21, 2014

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