David Cameron trying to stall decision on next European commission leader

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/27/david-cameron-stall-european-commission

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Downing Street has said David Cameron wants to see a reformer lead the European commission and does not want member states to be railroaded into the wrong choice.

The prime minister's spokesman indicated that the government was trying to stall the appointment of Luxembourg's former prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker to the top job in Brussels.

Juncker is the candidate of the largest party in Brussels, the centre-right European People's party, which the Conservatives left because it was not sufficiently in favour of EU reform.

At a dinner for EU leaders in Brussels on Tuesday night, Cameron's argument will be that Europe needs to take time to consult and consider its choice for the key role, especially after the rise of Eurosceptic parties across the continent in last week's elections.

Ukip led the polls in Britain, the far-right Front National came first in France and the extreme-left Syriza movement took top spot in Greece. The Eurosceptic Five-Star movement came second in Italy and the anti-euro Alternatives won seven seats in Germany.

In a series of phonecalls to EU leaders, Cameron urged his counterparts to "heed the views expressed at the ballot box that the EU needs to change and to show it cannot be business as usual", the spokesman said.

Cameron stressed these points to the German chancellor, Angela Merkel; the Lithuanian president, Dalia Grybauskaite; the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orban; Sweden's prime minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt: the Slovenian prime minister, Alenka Bratusek, and the Irish taoiseach, Enda Kenny.

"The European council should be giving a very clear direction on what the EU should doing more of, in terms of what voters care about, in terms of creating jobs and growth, and areas where they should be doing less," Cameron's spokesman said.

"There will be a discussion about the process for appointing the president of the European commission … The point that the PM has been making is that we need to follow the correct procedure. The European council has the right to nominate. We shouldn't be railroaded by the parliament, and particularly when the turnout was down in the majority of member states. It is important the European council takes its time to agree on what they want the EU to focus on over the next five years and who are the right people for that job."

Asked whether Cameron was trying to block Juncker's appointment, the spokesman said: "We're not going into specific names, but the point I would make is that there needs to be a fresh approach with the EU and there needs to be change. We want to look at the priorities and who are you putting at the helm of the EU to steer that path to reform."

The prime minister has led a drive for reform in Europe, having promised to hold a referendum on the UK's membership before the end of 2017 after negotiating a new settlement. Downing Street said other national leaders realised that there was now a "real moment for change", after the European elections underlined the extent of Eurosceptic feeling.

The French president, François Hollande, who has previously been resistant to Cameron's arguments, has now said the EU must reform and scale back its power to confront the Eurosceptic vote.

The European council, made up of the EU's 28 national heads of government, has a mandate to nominate the next European commission president, whose appointment is then voted on in the European parliament.

A letter to the Daily Telegraph organised by the Business for Britain group has called on all parties to spell out plans to negotiate reforms with the EU.

Business leaders including the Conservative donor Sir Michael Hintze said politicians should "set about explaining how they will deliver EU reform, a better deal for Britain and an in-out referendum".

The letter said: "We urge political leaders in both Westminster and Brussels to listen and respond to the message of change that the voters have made clear they want now, not later."