Brussels 16 July: The European Movement International is pleased that the will of European citizens has been respected in the appointment of Jean-Claude Juncker as European Commission President. This is an important step in the development of a deeper European democracy and shows that the Lisbon Treaty will be upheld.

With the top positions being settled, the European Movement hopes we can now look ahead to the next 5 years and build on the principles established since Lisbon. The Movement has already started this work through Europe+, a broad grass-roots alliance that exists to encourage institutional reform, and, following the recent European elections that brought an upsurge in the Eurosceptic vote, now is the time to make Europe work for its citizens.

Jo Leinen, President of the European Movement International, said: “With the election of Jean-Claude Juncker as Commission President, European democracy prevailed over diplomacy. The precedence has been set and now no candidate can claim the leadership of the European Commission without securing the European citizens’ support during the elections. With a view to the next elections in 2019, we must now drive this development forward by introducing a common European electoral law, which allows the citizens in all Member States of the European Union to vote directly for the candidates for Commission President nominated by the party families on the European level.”
[ENDS]

Notes to the Editors
1. The European Movement International (EMI) is one of the largest pan and pro-European civil society organisations with currently more than 70 Member Organisations, bringing together representatives from European associations, political parties, enterprises and trade unions. www.europeanmovement.eu

2. Europe+ is an alliance of 40+ European civil society organisations, working together for positive democratic change in the EU through the active and better involvement of citizens. www.euplus.org

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