British Prime Minister David Cameron’s right-hand man accused European leaders yesterday of duplicity over the possible choice of Jean-Claude Juncker as European Commission president, an appointment London is trying to block.

Speaking before a meeting between Cameron and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy in London on Monday, finance minister George Osborne suggested EU leaders were being supportive of Juncker publicly but negative privately.

“I think there’s a rather odd phenomenon at the moment which does happen believe it or not in politics which is people are saying quite a lot of things privately which they’re not saying publicly,” Osborne told BBC radio.

Britain believes Juncker’s federalist views mean he is not the right person to drive EU reform

His comments reflect deep frustration in Britain about the way the EU is handling the appointment after Cameron’s attempts to try to build an alliance against the 59-year-old former prime minister of Luxembourg collapsed.

Britain believes Juncker’s federalist views mean he is not the right person to drive reform, something Cameron has promised to deliver before giving Britons an in/out referendum on EU membership in 2017 if he is re-elected next year.

London also believes that EU leaders should have a free hand in nominating candidates, and not yield to the European Parliament’s preference as in Juncker’s case.

The matter is likely to come to a head when EU leaders meet in Belgium on Thursday and Friday this week with Britain looking increasingly isolated on the issue.

Cameron has made clear he will try to force an unprecedented vote if Van Rompuy seeks to push Juncker’s appointment through this week. That could highlight Britain’s isolation but show voters back home that the Prime Minister, under pressure from eurosceptics in the rising UK Independence Party and his own Conservative party, is determined to fight to change the EU.

EU summit decisions are usually taken on the basis of consensus without a vote. Cameron’s tactic is designed to flag his dissent to show the British media and public that he tried hard even if, as expected, he fails to block Juncker. Many EU insiders say Cameron’s tactics have so far been deeply misguided, betraying a misunderstanding of the consensual way in which the 28-nation bloc works. Aides have said Cameron thought from private discussions that some other EU leaders shared his views about Juncker, 59, and agreed with him on the flawed nature of the selection process.

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