Taoiseach supports Juncker for EC president

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said he is supporting former Luxembourg premier Jean-Claude Juncker in the race to succeed Jose Manuel Barroso as president of the European Commission.

Arriving this evening in Brussels for a summit dinner with EU leaders, Mr Kenny also dismissed a report today in the Financial Times which said he was one of three candidates for the presidency of the Commission.

Asked what he would say to EU leaders in the wake of the Government’s setbacks in the local and European election, Mr Kenny said the EU leaders and MEPs would have to get on with the execition of decsions to foster growth, stability and job creation.

“Part of that discussion will be my insistence in here that we continue on the conclusions for banking union so that the decision of the 29th of June 2012 in respect of breaking that vicious circle can be implemented and that we can continue our claim for direct recapitalisation in respect of which monies have been left aside for eligibility for claims that come in.”

Asked if he saw the election outcome as a message to EU leaders from the Irish people he said “I do”. The impact of the crisis was to be seen across the broad spectrum of EU countries, he added.

While the European Parliament agreed today to allow Mr Juncker’s name to go forward to the summit as the first candidate to take command of the Commission, the British, Dutch and Hungarian leaders are seeking to block him.

“I had a very good engagement down there,” Mr Kenny said of pre-summit talks with fellow centre-right leaders in the European People’s Party, Fine Gael’s affiliate in the European Parliament.

“I actually reminded people that the front of the Financial Times is not correct actually in asserting that there’s a blockage to Jean-Claude Juncker,” he told reporters.

“I reminded people at the meeting that we had a congress in Dublin, a very successful congress. We had a convention, we had a contest, we had an election and we nominated Jean-Claude Juncker to the president of the Commission.”

Mr Kenny said he spoke on Sunday with British prime minister David Cameron and explained to him the process under which the EPP nominated Mr Juncker.

Earlier, Lucinda Creighton, who has been a vice-president of the EPP since 2012, said she believed the party was behind Jean-Claude Juncker as candidate.

“There’s virtual unanimous support here for Jean-Claude Juncker as candidate, though obviously leaders will have to reach agreement in the Council. There is a bit of inter-institutional play here . The Council, the heads of state, have the right to nominate the president of the European Commission, but the Parliament votes on it.”

Asked whether Taoiseach Enda Kenny could be a suitable candidate for one of the top EU jobs this year, including the European Council president and the EU’s foreign policy chief, Ms Creighton said it was “possible.”

“In terms of the foreign policy position – essentially the foreign minister of the European Union - I don’t know how interested he would be, but it’s a possibility.”

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore also flew to Brussels today for a meeting of the Party of European Socialists, which represents the group of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), of which the Labour Party is a member.

EU leaders are meeting for the first time since the European elections, to discuss the outcome of the elections and to consider the election of José Manuel Barroso’s successor.

For the first time, the main political groups in the European Parliament nominated candidates for commission president ahead of the elections. Provisional results indicate the European People’s Party (EPP), which includes Fine Gael and German chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU party, won 213 of the 751 seats in the parliament, with the S&D candidates securing 186 and the liberal group Alde in third place with 70.