UK Prime Minister David Cameron has come in for harsh criticism in parliament after his failure to stop Jean-Claude Juncker’s nomination in becoming the next president of the European Union Commission.
Cameron has said he views Juncker, an EU veteran and former long-term Prime Minister of Luxembourg, as an arch-federalist. Junker was nominated and elected with 26 votes with two countries opposing - Hungary and the UK.
Leader of the opposition party, Ed Miliband said that Cameron had ‘failed’ while Cameron maintains that he wants Britain out of "an ever closer union" and said that the opposition leader was being, "weak, opportunistic and wrong."
The Labour leader capitalised on last week’s events and said that "Europe isn't un-reformable, it's just that he can't do it...he is a defeated PM who cannot deliver for Britain." He added that with Juncker, the strategy for threatening exits was put to the test and has failed.
Miliband accused Cameron of turning Europe against the UK, and claims that he started with a divided Europe over Juncker's candidacy, and ended with a united Europe against him.
In his statement to the parliament, Cameron said, "I believe it was important to push the principle and our deep misgivings about this issue right to the end.”
Addressing parliament on the nomination of Juncker, Cameron said, "This is a bad day for Europe, the decision of the council risks undermining the position of national governments.”
Cameron tried hard to portray the nomination of Junker as a success in the face of UK opposition, “We did secure some small step forward in Britain's relationship with the EU,” he said.
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