EC president Juncker says he keeps black book on political foes

European Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker has said he keeps a little black book containing the names of people who have betrayed him.

Juncker told the Belgian daily Le Soir that he called his book "Little Maurice".

"It's where for 30 years I've made a note when someone betrays me,” he said, while not revealing who was named in it.

He insisted that he did not bear grudges, and the book "doesn't have many entries, because people rarely betray me".

"The book's name comes from a common German expression: The bitterness of little Maurice. In Luxembourg, when someone was irritating me, I would say, 'Careful, Little Maurice is waiting for you'," he said.

A Commission spokeswoman would not reveal any of the book's contents when asked by the BBC.

"If you want to know if you or the BBC are in that booklet then you will have to ask him yourself," she said.

Juncker, a former prime minister of Luxembourg, has recently attracted media speculation about his health and future as Commission chief, after the UK's vote to leave the EU and other setbacks for EU ambitions.