Ursula von Der Leyen accused of being so incompetent EU will be 'nostalgic' for Juncker

Greek representative Stelios Kouloglou made clear that he felt the EU needed a leader that was “better than Mr Juncker” – but that, comparatively, the current commissioner was preferable to Ms von Der Leyen. He told a panel on France 24 that the German Defence Minister – who has been nominated to take Mr Juncker’s top spot – does not have “any experience in European politics.” He said: “How could she deal with Europe, which is in a difficult situation?

“Actually, I think the choice symbolises the status of the EU today.

“And also she symbolises the policies that have made Europe what it is today.

“Austerity policies with Greece. It was very tough during the negotiations in 2015.

“And, now, everybody accepts and apologises – accepts that was a mistake and that Greece was punished as much as possible.

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“I would like to ask her about this.

“And if the Germans are not considering her a good candidate why should we consider her a good candidate?

“She’s for the defence of Europe – okay, Mr Macron is also an admirer of defence. That’s one of the reasons.

“But the whole process – the backroom deals; ‘I give you this, you give me that.’

“The Parliament and the political groups in the European Parliament, or most of them, made great steps toward more transparency, towards more democracy.

“They presented lead candidates for the European elections, these candidates got their results but in the end, the Council just put them under the carpet like they used to in the past.

“It’s a big deception, a big step backward – it could have been an enormous step forward for democracy in the European Union, we had big participation in the European elections so it’s not only a slap in the face of the European Parliament but European voters as well.”

Each parliamentary group in the European Parliament proposed a candidate to become the next leader of the European Commission once current boss Jean-Claude Juncker retires in November, with German MEP Manfred Weber from the European People’s Party (EPP) predicted to win the seat.

But despite Mr Weber’s party securing the majority of the votes in the European elections in May, debate among EU leaders ensued and concluded with the nomination of German Defence Minister Ursula von Der Leyen as the Council’s candidate.

source: express.co.uk