Schäuble criticism of European Commission a ‘very German’ view

Officials close to Germany's finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, have denied reports that he wants to strip the European Commission of powers if its president, Jean-Claude Juncker, continues to push a political role in the euro crisis.

The ministry was responding to a report in the Frankfurter Allgemeine (FAZ) daily on Thursday that Dr Schäuble believed Mr Juncker's intervention in the Greek crisis had brought his Brussels executive into conflict with its original role as guardian of the treaties and the single market.

Officials in Berlin insisted Dr Schäuble was not interested in “weakening” the commission, but was calling to attention what he sees as a growing tension between the executive’s political role and its role as guardian of the treaties.

A Berlin finance ministry spokesman confirmed that Dr Schäuble had, in the July 14th eurogroup meeting, raised issues relating to the role of EU institutions “beyond the current context”.

Treaty guardian

In this discussion, Dr Schäuble underlined the importance of the commission “preserving the correct balance between its political function and its role as the guardian of the treaties”.

However, a ministry spokesman said there was no intention to "disempower the commission" as the FAZ article implied. Nor were the remarks intended as a warning shot to Mr Juncker.

At issue in Dr Schäuble’s remarks is whether some key commission competencies, such as oversight over competition law and the internal market, should be transferred out of the EU executive into a new, independent authority similar to Germany’s federal cartel commission.

Berlin has made little effort to hide its annoyance at his increasing involvement in negotiations with Greece's prime minister, Alexis Tsipras.

Berlin officials blame the commission president for egging on Mr Tsipras to push for a “political” deal for new loans and a debt write-down, leading to the incomplete second EU-IMF programme.

Dr Schäuble complained that he sees Mr Juncker’s involvement as infringing on the competence of the eurogroup, where euro zone finance ministers meet, as the true EU creditor contact for Athens.

Another such political intervention, German officials say, was the so-called “Juncker Fund” for investment in the euro area.

Berlin officials said yesterday that Dr Schäuble has always been a defender of the commission. His remarks were nothing new, they said, but part of a “wider, medium-term” discussion about the future role of Brussels institutions.

However, ambitions of the commission to become a “European government”, an idea Dr Schäuble has always supported in the past, could, Berlin officials suggest, require the Brussels executive to hand over competencies it has held since its foundation.

Officials close to Mr Juncker told the FAZ that the Schäuble remarks were a "very German" view of things. In its view, the commission's role is not just to ensure adherence to competition rules and protect the internal market, but alto push common European interests.

No influence

There was no conflict of interest, the official told the newspaper, because Mr Juncker didn’t exert any influence on his officials, such as the powerful competition commissioner,

Margrethe Vestager

.

The German minister’s remarks come amid a wider debate about the future of the European Union.

A week after Dr Schäuble backed the French revival of the idea of closer “political union”, his officials expressed a readiness to divert some of Germany’s national sales and income tax takings to bankroll a new “euro budget”.