European Commission President says no to second term

European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker dismissed the possibility that he will seek a second term, in an interview to be aired on Sunday on German radio station Deutschlandfunk.

"I don't aspire to a second term," EFE new quoted Juncker as saying to the radio station in the preview of its upcoming broadcast.

Juncker, 62, a Christian democrat and former Prime Minister of Luxembourg, became President of the commission in 2014 for a five-year term.

Juncker also recalled in the interview the 2014 European elections, in which he was the candidate of the European Popular Party (EPP) for the presidency of the European Commission against German socialist Martin Schulz.

Juncker was referring to the fact that he was the first European Commission President designated according to the procedure outlined in the 2009 Treaty of Lisbon, in which the vote of the citizenry indirectly decides who will occupy that position.

The EPP won that election in the European Union by winning 221 of the 751 legislators of the European Parliament.

Juncker said he fell back in love with the EU because he could experience all its variety, while declaring that he will never go through another campaign again because he is never going to run again.

--IANS

lok/