Thoughts On Juncker

The whole Juncker saga over the last week or so has really made an impact on our future in the EU, and its not wholly because arch-federalist Jean Claude Juncker is the new President. Not only has Andre Walker got a new person to ask the British public "do you know who this man is", but we know that not much can change in the EU because of the leaders of Europe.

Only two countries out of twenty eight in the EU voted against Jean Claude Juncker being appointed as EU President. This shows that either the vast majority of European leaders are committed to greater political integration to form a federal Europe or that many of the leaders of 'Eurosceptic countries' are too cowardly to try stop the EU. Personally, I think it is a bit of both. Even if the Swedes, Germans and Dutch did vote against Juncker the majority of EU countries still back greater powers going to the EU.

Who wears the trousers in Europe now?

Of course the Germans may have been able to make a difference in selecting a different President but they weren't going to even though it is believed Angela Merkel actually didn't want Jean Claude Juncker. I agree, for once, with Jermey Hunt. European leaders were 'cowardly'. How can we hope to get any substantial change in Europe with these weak leaders? There is no support to change from the path of moving as quickly as possible to the ultimate goal of the Treaty of Rome of political integration.

No one except David Cameron will stand up to 'ever closer union' in Europe.

No one in the EU with any major power apart from the United Kingdom wants to make changes to Europe from fear of the geriatric Brussels bureaucracy or a real desire to bring about much closer integration. Angela Merkel said after the Juncker vote that "There can be different speeds for member countries to adopt come to ever closer union ... It was made clear, yet again, that the idea of an ever closer union as it is stated in the treaties does not mean that there is equal speed among member countries." But people of the UK do not want a slower descent into the pit of political union, we want a reversal and for it to stay like that.

I admire David Cameron in standing up what was right here. Juncker will only make the effect of the EU on Britain much worse and it was thus right for the PM to do all he could to stop him. Dave knew that he was unlikely to win but he did what was right for the nation. But if anything this shows that you cannot beat Brussels at their own game. We're not going to get anything that we want from negotiation with Brussels and thus we should leave the EU. Dave will try to renegotiate and a large proportion of people still want him to have the chance to do so. But all it can is prove for once and for all we're better off out. Thank god the Conservatives will allow us to do that with a referendum and hopefully the Prime Minister will ask the country to back an EU withdrawal.