The new European Commission: Which president, and what priorities?

The EU has probably never faced greater challenges. Chronically slow economic growth, and a euro crisis that is dormant but far from resolved, have undermined support for the EU which has helped anti-establishment parties to win 20 per cent of the seats in the 2014 European Parliament elections. A wave of europhobic sentiment may carry Britain out of the EU, while Russia is becoming a more menacing neighbour.

The EU cannot tackle such problems without a strong European Commission, which can help to forge common policies. Yet many pro-Europeans want the Commission’s next president to be chosen by vote of the Parliament, a method that is bound to weaken the Presidency.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: The European Parliament’s election of the President of the European Commission http://www.europeansources.info/record/the-european-parliaments-election-of-the-president-of-the-european-commission/

ESO: Background information: Presidential Candidates, European Federalism and Charles Grant. http://www.europeansources.info/record/presidential-candidates-european-federalism-and-charles-grant/

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