As Prospect went to press, Gordon Brown was still fighting to install Tony Blair in the job of first full-time president of the European council. But Blair’s would-be assassins were emerging like the cast of an Agatha Christie whodunit. In Britain, William Hague told EU ambassadors that appointing Blair would be considered a hostile act by the Tories. And on the continent, Jean-Claude Juncker, prime minister of Luxembourg, held the smoking revolver.
Over the years, Juncker has rarely concealed his dislike for all things Anglo-Saxon—apart, perhaps, for the British banks which set up shop in his tax-haven principality. Juncker, a chain-smoking bon viveur who doubles as the Luxembourg finance minister, has been at the EU’s top table since 1995. A German and French-speaker with good contacts in both countries, Juncker has carved out a role much larger than the size of his nation warrants. Though Luxembourg has a population of just 450,000, it was the oil that greased the wheels of the Franco-German tandem.
As finance minister, Juncker once helped humiliate Brown, then chancellor. Brown had unwisely claimed that, while staying outside the euro, Britain would still be invited to meetings of ministers of the single currency states. But when the moment came, he was politely asked to leave the room. Brown later got one over Juncker, overturning proposals for a European commission savings tax directive.
If you are a subscriber, please log in »
This article is available to subscribers only
Subscribing to Prospect is the most reliable and convenient way to receive the magazine every month, and offers the best value.Subscription Types:
Online
An online subscription offers you complete and unlimited access to the entire website, including our searchable archive of every back issue of Prospect, and a PDF edition of each new issue: all this for just £20 per year. Purchase an online subscription »Renewal
Renew an existing subscription »Institutional access
If you are a library, business organisation or any other large institution that needs a multi-user licence, you can obtain institutional access.
Share
Subscribe to post comments
Print
