On Monday, Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan launched a scathing attack on the European Commission President, describing the EU chief as a remote, smug, entitled and a “sozzled” enemy of democracy. In his Sunday Telegraph column, Mr Hannan suggested that the Luxembourgish politician is “why Britain voted leave”. He accused him of harbouring “anti-British” attitudes, as well as “contempt” for democratic processes.
It is not the first time Mr Juncker has triggered such accusations over the course of his career, though.
In 2005, the EU chief, who at the time was Luxembourg’s Minister for Finances and President of the Euro Group, was pushing for a European Constitution.
On May 29 of that year, France held a referendum to decide whether it should ratify the proposed Constitution but, ahead of the vote, Mr Juncker admitted he would ignore the result if it did not go the way he intended.
He said: “If it’s a Yes, we will say ‘on we go’, and if it’s a No we will say ‘we continue.'”
Following the No votes in France and the Netherlands, Mr Juncker also claimed that, in reality, voters had actually supported deeper European integration.
His remarks were met with outrage by eurosceptics, who suggested that the EU elite was in denial over the public hostility towards the bloc.
In the end, as the European Commission President predicted, eurocrats ignored the results of such popular votes and the European constitution was subsequently rebranded as the Lisbon Treaty, which passed in 2007.
Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage famously claimed that was the moment he lost faith in the European Union and started to despise it.
Speaking on his LBC show, Mr Farage said: “In 2005, the European Union had produced its own constitution.
“The first proper blueprint – the first genuine admission that what they were building wasn’t a free trade zone, it was a state and they put it to referendums.
“The French rejected it, the Dutch rejected it and many other people, had they had the chance, would have rejected it.
“And what did the EU do? Did they learn the lesson? Did they say ‘Oh well obviously people don’t want a state with a flag, an anthem and an army.’ Did they row back? No, they rebranded it as the Lisbon Treaty.
“They forced it through without giving the French and Dutch another option. The Irish voted against it but were forced to vote again.
“From that moment, I have been an enemy of the entire project.”