PN backing Juncker's bid to head European Commission

MEP Roberta Metsola, today said that the Nationalist Party will back Jean-Claude Juncker’s candidature to become the new European Commission president.

The former Prime Minister of Luxembourg is the European People's Party (EPP) candidate for the top Commission job and is one of five candidates vying for the post currently occupied by José Manuel Barroso.

Juncker, 59 and Martin Schulz, backed by the centre-left Socialists and Democrats group, are current favourites for the job.

The new Commission president will be appointed by the leaders of the EU's 28 members states, whose choice must then be approved by a majority in the European Parliament.

In a statement issued today, Metsola said that together with Juncker she participated in a discussion over the upcoming European Parliament elections and his race to replace Barroso as Commission president.

Metsola underlined that coming from Luxembourg, Juncker understood that the particular circumstances of smaller Member States must always be kept at the forefront of decision making on a European level.

“Mr Juncker is a true a European, a friend to Malta and has presented us with a vision of Europe as a place of growth, jobs, peace and prosperity. He is the right person for the job and his experience will serve us all well,” Metsola said.

The European Parliament plenary session goes on until tomorrow, when MEPs will vote on the two reports related to asylum and the role of the Malta-based European Asylum Support Office (EASO) with associated EU States prepared by Metsola, who was chosen as the Parliament’s rapporteur on the dossiers. This is the last European Parliament plenary session of this legislature.