- Title: German conservative emerges as early front-runner for EU's top job
- Date: 8th November 2018
- Summary: HELSINKI, FINLAND (NOVEMBER 8, 2018) (REUTERS) NEWLY ELECTED CANDIDATE OF EUROPEAN PEOPLE'S PARTY (EPP) FOR EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT IN 2019, MANFRED WEBER WALKING UP TO NEWS CONFERENCE PODIUM JOURNALIST TYPING (SOUNDBITE) (English) NEWLY ELECTED EPP CANDIDATE FOR EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT IN 2019, MANFRED WEBER, SAYING: "When I become (European) Commission president I promise that I will put a legislation on the table that we create a binding, and also with sanctions included, a binding rule of law mechanism for the European Union on the table because we need a new mechanism, a powerful mechanism to guarantee our principles in today's European Union." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) NEWLY ELECTED EPP CANDIDATE FOR EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT IN 2019, MANFRED WEBER, SAYING: "I believe in strong cooperation between the European Union and Turkey. We need each other, we are partners, we are neighbours, we can only solve our problems together. But I don't believe in the enlargement process. I think it is more honest and it is more frank and fair if we would sit together and would clarify that 'let's have strong cooperation but no full enlargement'. So, no full membership of Turkey of the European Union." MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES LISTENING WEBER ADDRESSING NEWS CONFERENCE WEBER LEAVING GERMAN CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL WALKING UP TO MICROPHONE AND SAYING SHE HAS CONGRATULATED WEBER (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR, ANGELA MERKEL, SAYING: "During his wonderful speech Manfred Weber made a beautiful connection between his own homeland and the European project and I think that speech convinced many, many delegates and I'm very happy and I congratulate him from my heart. Thank you." / MERKEL WALKING AWAY (SOUNDBITE) (German) EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT, JEAN-CLAUDE JUNCKER, SAYING: "As a leader of the largest group in the European Parliament one needs a high amount of power to integrate and you need that also as a commission president and he has all that." JOURNALIST ASKING: "Do you trust him to have this? "I trust him. I supported him." EXTERIOR OF EPP CONGRESS VENUE EPP SIGN
- Embargoed: 22nd November 2018 14:58
- Keywords: EPP Manfred Weber Spitzenkandidat Angela Merkel Alexander Stubb Jean-Claude Juncker
- Location: HELSINKI, FINLAND
- City: HELSINKI, FINLAND
- Country: Finland
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00195NC18N
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Manfred Weber, a reserved Bavarian who has modelled himself on Germany's pragmatic chancellor, won the backing of Europe's centre-right parties on Thursday (November 8) to stand in the race to become European Commission president in 2019.
Weber, a German EU lawmaker, beat former Finnish prime minister Alexander Stubb to become the European People's Party's (EPP) top candidate in the European Parliament elections next May. That makes him an early front-runner for the EU's most influential job, the head of the bloc's executive, which proposes legislation and negotiates free-trade deals.
Talking to journalists after EPP conference, Weber promised to put a new binding rule of law mechanism for the European Union to the table if he becomes a new EU Commission president.
Weber's speech emulated German Chancellor Angela Merkel's language and style of compromise, a tone he used throughout his bid to become the successor to outgoing EU president Jean-Claude Juncker, also of the EPP, an umbrella group of pro-market conservatives. Merkel has publicly backed Weber and did so again in Helsinki,
Despite concerns elsewhere in Europe about Berlin's growing power in Europe, with Germans in senior EU jobs, the only German to run the Brussels' executive was Walter Hallstein in the late 1950s, but who had far less power than today's Commission chief. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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