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David Cameron apologised to Juncker for opposing EU President candidacy

John Ashmore

1 min read

David Cameron repeatedly apologised to Jean-Claude Juncker for opposing his candidacy for the European Commission, the EU veteran has claimed.


Speaking to journalists, Mr Juncker said the former Prime Minister had apologised to him in private and any animosity between them was now water under the bridge.

He said: “In the first months of my mandate I met Mr Cameron and he apologised many times for saying he didn’t officially support my candidacy.”

Mr Cameron had said Mr Juncker was “the wrong man for the job” during the 2014 run for the Commission presidency. 

"Jean-Claude Juncker has been at the heart of the project to increase the power of Brussels and reduce the power of nation states for his entire working life," he said at the time. 

"He is not the right person to take this organisation forward. So, I am very clear about the right thing to do."

The UK was the only country to publicly oppose Mr Juncker’s candidacy, putting Mr Cameron at odds with all the other EU member states in the run-up to his ill-fated renegotiation of Britain's membership.

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