This morning, an éclat took place during the plenary session in the European Parliament. When Jean Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, realised that only 30 MEPs were present, he abruptly decided not to hold his speech on the review of the Maltese Presidency. Instead, Juncker called the Parliament „ridiculous“. The Greens were the only political group that was represented, including their Co-Chair Philippe Lamberts.
Being present throughout the entire plenary debate, when Juncker boycotted the session, MEP Sven Giegold, financial and economic policy spokesperson of the Greens/EFA group comments:
„Juncker must apologise to the European Parliament. The President of the Commission does no good to European democracy when boycotting the EU Parliament. Juncker, as President of the European Commission, has the duty to report to the Parliament. His refusal was self-righteous and arrogant.”
“Even though, Juncker’s behaviour was totally inappropriate, he is right in one point: when heads of smaller EU countries speak in the plenary, it often seems to be of less interest compared to speeches held by bigshots like Merkel or Macron. The behaviour of the MEPs, however, reflects only the real power relations in the European Council. Because important decisions in the Council are negotiated mainly by the large states, smaller countries can hardly achieve much without the most powerful states. Juncker should criticize the decision-making structures in the Council rather than to scold sharply at the Parliament.“
Telegraph-Journalist James Crisp reports on this: https://twitter.com/JamesCrisp6/status/882138033633587200
“Juncker loses his cool, calls the European Parliament „ridiculous“ in furious outburst sparked by only 30 MEPs turning up for his speech.”
Link to the video: