Jean-Claude Juncker elected as EPP candidate for President of the European Commission
The Congress of the European People's Party (EPP) today elected Jean-Claude Juncker,
the former Prime Minister of Luxembourg, as the EPP's candidate for
President of the European Commission, ahead of the May European
Parliament elections (see also http://dublin2014.epp.eu/).
The
vote took place at the finale of the EPP 2014 Elections Congress in
Dublin. Of the 627 votes cast by the members of the Congress with voting
rights, 382 voted for Jean-Claude Juncker, while Michel Barnier, the European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, received 245 votes.
In
nominating a candidate for President of the European Commission, the
EPP was the only major European political party to have implemented a
process which was open, transparent, competitive and democratic.
Following
his election as the EPP candidate, Jean-Claude Juncker emphasised: "We
have to explain why the EU is not a phenomenon of the past but a need of
the future. I thank you for the trust that you have given me. We are
going to win these elections." (The acceptance speech can be viewed
online here.)
Jean-Claude
Juncker will now spearhead the EPP's EU-wide campaign leading up to the
European elections, which will take place from 22 to 25 May. Upon
winning the elections, Jean Claude-Juncker will have the democratic
mandate to assume the presidency of the European Commission.
The EPP campaign led by Jean-Claude Juncker can be followed in the coming weeks and months at http://juncker.epp.eu and on Twitter @JunckerEU hashtag:#withJuncker.
Note to editors:
The EPP is the largest and most influential European-level political party of the centre-right, which currently includes 73 member-parties from 39 countries, the Presidents of the European Commission and the European Council, 12 EU and 6 non-EU heads of state and government, 13 members of the European Commission and the largest Group in the European Parliament.
For more information:
Kostas Sasmatzoglou, EPP Spokesman, Tel. +32-2-2854147
Javier Jiménez, EPP Director of Press and Communications, Tel. +32-475480446
