After the populist revolt in the MEP elections, the drama gripping the EU in the search for the European Commission’s new presidency is still unfolding.

Germany’s bravest and most popular Chancellor ever to hit the headlines, Angela Merkel, has now switched tack on Jean-Claude Juncker, Luxembourg’s former prime minister, in an effort to build consensus with her EU counterparts on the Commission’s new leadership.

After her initial doubts on Juncker, she has now realised that rejecting the voters’ choice expressed in last month’s European parliamentary elections amounts to an insult to the public just when the EU institution is under heavy fire for being corrupt, undemocratic and useless.

Last Friday, she seemed to have recognized the force of support for Juncker, whose European People’s Party came top in the elections.

The political fight could still have some more weeks to run... with David Cameron, Britain’s Prime Minister, threatening to quit his country from the bloc if Juncker is elected president.

However, Merkel appears mindful that while the populist surge in the EU has many causes, ranging from unemployment to fear of globalization, there is also deep disenchantment with Brussels.

She is also aware of the fact that, without unity, the EU would become even more weakened and, therefore, she wants to keep the Council together. Having said that, she may still decide otherwise, in view of Cameron’s threatening tone. Moreover, in Merkel’s eyes, Juncker is an old-school Europhile and not a ‘technocratic’ politician who would balance interest as she so wisely does. Given her great concern for the legitimacy of EU institutions, Merkel has decided to give a lot more weight to this political drama being unfolded.

On our part, as always, we wish her success.