Top Jobs in EU

I think Andrew Neil is brilliant, could listen to him all day. Why are the BBC pulling the plug on his programme, I wonder??

Ursula von der Leyen is Germany's Chris Grayling.

You have to admire the ' gall ' of Jean-Claude Junker.

Now he is leaving as European Commission president he is starting to be honest by criticising how secretive and undemocratic the deal was to nominate his successor and it was a ' stitch up '.

It was Jean-Claude Junker who was secretive and undemocratic when he too appointed his chief-of-staff, MARTIN SELMAYR to become secretary-general of the EU Commission.

That affair become commonly known as “SELMAYRGATE ”. Selmayr is nicknamed the “Brussels monster” and reportedly supposed to want to 'punish ' the UK for Brexit . Selmayr was the person accused of leaking the details from the private dinner held between Juncker and Theresa May that caused a hell of a lot of controversy.

Even Junkers political group in the EU Parliament said of Junkers nepotism :-

' Frankly, we have shot ourselves in the foot,” Francoise Grossetete of Juncker’s centre-right European People’s Party said, arguing that the decision to pick Selmayr, during a closed-door meeting on Feb. 21, was “grist to the mill” for eurosceptics. '

I hope Selmayr is told to pack his bags as they did years ago with the then Commission President, Jacques Santer over fraud and mismanagement .

When Andrew Neil asked the question :-

" Why is Europe in good hands with people like that?”

Isn't that a good question we should all be asking?.

I wonder too Opal?!!!!!? The British army did have an issue with boots, that is true, BUT there was an outcry, and it was rectified asap! as there was with landrovers! However our submarines do function and our soldiers do have guns not broomsticks! So rather a poor comparison!!
Not Chris Grayling, please tell me you're joking! We need to leave today, this minute!!!!!!??

Always risky to talk about politics. But there is a great interview on YouTube with Ushti VDL. I liked her a lot after seeing it. They all fiddle contracts ( our lot just as bad Hunt NHS contracts, Farage Aaron Banks millions ( hence the new suits) Boris ( US backing) . What I liked is her respect and defence of the military and reluctance to send them to fight Crimea but rely on sanctions . A mother’s perpective at last ( we’ll she does have 7 children who she wants to live a long life - don’t we all ) I might be wrong but watch the interview.
As for Brexit well in a nutshell we have a choice, be under EU or under USA. Since USA is in real terms going downhill, desperate, and going to rob the shirt off our back in any trade deal due to Trump , and London will lose EU clearing which earns us billions , I’m not keen to leave. I’m biased though because half my family is in Europe and i have business there and I’ve already lost loads of money with sinking pound.

The US isn’t going downhill btw.

We have had strong links with them for a very long time and regarding defence ( think of the last two major wars)
It’s a good job that that we had those links.

In any case, we do not need to be ‘under’ them.

I missed that Andrew Neill programme, must watch it.

A friend who worked in a high ranking position in Brussels ( Trade negotiator) told me that the EU was run by the Germans ( all unelected) for the Germans benefit.
They also said that there were literally thousands of penpushers there, who were paid top dollar and laughing all the way to the bank.
Our MEPs are paid a humongous amount a month and when they leave they get a equally humongous pay off and pension.
The further away people get to a problem, the less interested they are in it.
Wainfleet in Lincolnshire seriously flooded recently....soon forgotten.

Recommend site https:www.youtube.com/watch?v=grliNk9Mqz4&feature=youtu.be

I agree, an appalling choice of people for too EU jobs. But doesn't this strongly reinforce the argument to remain and change and reform from the inside?

There, a response from an absolute remainer, albeit I live in France. If I still lived in UK I would be even more anxious to remain.

Change and reform from inside?! A nice idea, but realistically a forlorn hope!! If Brexit is an uphill battle, tackling the "crooks" inside the EU would be a completely pointless exercise, a waste of time and breath! . Ranks would close, perceived trouble makers conveniently be moved or sacked. It would be the road to nowhere! We're much better away from these appalling people and concentrate on US!

FC61
Where would you suggest the clearing houses be moved to, Frankfurt?
While the rest of Europe is looking at 5G Germany is practically on dial up with 3G.
No clearing house could operate successfully on these speeds.

I'm shocked at the false claims against Christine Lagarde. Whether or not you like her, she is entitled to not be misrepresented. It is outrageous that people are saying she has been convicted of fraud or embezzlement. Please read the BBC report for the facts. www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38369822. Really, her "negligence" in relation to £340 million pales into significance by comparison with the trail of disaster wreaked by Chris Grayling. Not to mention the billions being spent on "no-deal Brexit", which is utter madness.

counterpoint

What false claims?

She was found guilty of negligence, escaped a prison sentence and a criminal record. She has now been promoted to a top position in the commission! Chris Grayling is everything you say, but incompetence isn't a criminal offence, and he, without doubt will not be offered any job whatsoever and disappear without trace!

FC 61

"What I liked is her respect and defence of the military and reluctance to send them to fight Crimea but rely on sanctions . "
-

Ursula von der Leyen is an arch EU Federalist who is in favour of an EU Army, Defense Union for those who can't call it what it is.

Her ' reluctance to send them to fight' will have little bearing if German troops are part of what she and Junker want, an EU Army.

The quicker we get out, the better!

I'm a remainer and have no problem with appointments. Most top jobs in any sector are appointed, public, private and voluntary, why should EU be different. Look where elections have got us in this country and who we might get as PM through election process!

I’m a remainer but have always deplored the process of selecting EU leaders, nothing new about it. But it’s still better in than out. Despair for 31 October.

Am a bit puzzled by some of the comments here.

The way top officials are appointed is the result of a balance between the Council ( on which the elected representatives of the member states sit, including our own Prime Minister) and the Parliament ( with MEPs directly elected by the people, like Farage and Miss Widdecombe who boasted of the Brexit Party being the largest party in the European Parliament before suddenly portraying us as slaves).
Sovereignty is shared between all 28 members.

Unlike others who have commented here, I am deeply impressed by the talents and expertise of the new top people

Mrs von der Leyden is a medical doctor and economist who has held a number of cabinet posts in Germany and is the mother of 7 children.

Christine Lagarde is one of the world's most prominent policy-makers, has held a number of Ministerial posts in France, and has been a highly successful managing director of the IMF. She was implicated in a case and found guilty of negligence - NOT fraud- but no penalty was imposed.

Charles Michel has been an acting PM in Belgium, and his gifts or diplomacy are widely recognised.

The fact that we are leaving the EU is really no reason to start insulting our European neighbours. Would that the Brexit MEPs has an iota of the talents of the new officials - and behaved with dignity and diplomacy instead of taking the Parliament's shilling but utterly failing - as their predecessors UKIP failed - to advance the interests of the UK in the Parliament and promote democracy in Europe.

Our civil service, which basically runs everything, is totally unelected. And populated by the public school boys’ club. Plus ca change, as we pro-Europeans say. Yes Minister all those years ago summed it up.

And the EU equivalent of the civil service ( with additionally the power to propose legislation - which needs the approval of the Council and also the Parliament) is the Commission.

You could say that the EU is something of a three-legged stool: Council of Ministers, European Parliament, and European Commission.

All quite complex, but worth noting that both the Council ( proposing a candidate) and the Parliament (having to approve the candidate) are involved in the appointment of the Commission President - in the present case, Mrs von Der Leyden, who has yet to be fully approved.

Ursula von der Leyen, the Commission president-designate, herself the daughter of a Eurocrat, has wasted many depressing years as Germany’s defence minister, presiding over a decrepit and underfunded Bundeswehr.

A devastating parliamentary report earlier this year exposed planes that can’t fly and guns that don’t shoot. Fewer than a fifth of its helicopters are combat ready.

It is almost impossible to find anybody in Germany who has a good word to say about von der Leyen, her appointment a clear case of rewards for failure. “Our weakest minister”, one said.

It gets worse: a parliamentary committee has launched an inquiry into a spending scandal in her department, relating to massive contracts awarded to consultants. But she supports a United States of Europe and an EU army, so what other qualifications are required?

‘But she supports a United States of Europe and an EU army, so what other qualifications are required?’

Quite Urmstongran.

Josep Borrell’s woes are equally recent, and haven’t prevented his nomination as foreign policy chief.

Less than a year ago, as Spain’s Socialist foreign minister, he was fined €30,000 (£26,900) for insider trading. The regulator ruled he had engaged in “a very serious violation” of securities law when he sold shares in Abengoa in 2015, “having privileged information on this company”. As champagne socialism goes, this takes some beating and he refused calls to resign.

He also supports the disgusting clampdown on Catalonia, has made trouble over Gibraltar and agreed to set up a joint cybersecurity group with Russia last November – a move that won’t end well.

Last but not least, he will be worse than useless on Iran: in an interview with Politico, he said: “Iran wants to wipe out Israel. Nothing new with that. You have to live with it.” His appointment will prove catastrophic.