A 14-page missive leaked to European media claimed the Luxemburg candidate for the EU Commission Presidency, Jean-Claude Juncker went on a five-minute alcoholic rant in 2007. The British press went as far as unearthing 'Nazi DNA'. The main problem however: Juncker is a statist and a closeted federalist
UPDATE: With the appointment of Jean-Claude Juncker Liberty in Europe is in even in deeper shit than we know.
Until now, Europe's heads of govenment, the Council, have negotiated behind the scenes to come to consensus on a candidate - and then proposed his appointment to parliament. This time, the reverse was the case, for no apparent reason. As a result the role of the Commission is likely to change. Politically, the Commission is conceived of as an executive body. It has taken its cues from the European Council. But with Juncker's election, the continent's axis of power has tipped in favor of the parliament. "We have rewritten the rules of Europe's constitutional reality," EU parliamentarians are enthusing. We are moving from a Europe of independent nations to a unity state, called the United States of Europe. Evidently, Juncker's campaign wasn't a freak accident of nature, but another federalist coup: parliament proposed three utterly federalist candidates (Juncker, Verhofstadt and Schulz) and the only opposition - the heads of state - simply rolled over. And of course this coup will be presented as a 'victory for democracy in Europe'.
