Jean-Claude Juncker could STAY as top EU chief after his term expires this year
The move could make it more likely Brexit will be extended beyond October
JEAN-CLAUDE Juncker could stay on as EU chief well into next year after the European election result sparked a bitter battle over who will replace him.
Brussels’ top civil servant Martin Selmayr suggested the Commission boss may need to have his mandate extended - with big implications for Britain.
EU diplomats told The Sun such a move would make another Brexit delay easier to seal.
But fierce national infighting over who gets the bloc’s top jobs next will leave leaders with less time and energy to negotiate with a new British PM.
Mr Juncker, 64, is due to retire on November 1 after four years in the job that have been dogged by persistent questions over his health.
But the EU election result, which saw Eurosceptics gain and the main centre-right and centre-left parties lose their majority, has complicated his exit.
Mr Selmayr, the German secretary-general of the Commission, said the bloc would need to show “democratic patience in the coming weeks”.
And he joked: “I put my money on the fact that the next EU Commission will be earlier formed than the next Belgian government.”
Belgium, which held federal elections on Sunday and is now trying to form a new coalition, once famously went without a government for almost a year.
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One EU diplomat told The Sun the wrangling over top jobs means the bloc will have “no interest, bandwidth or time” to renegotiate Brexit with a new PM.
A second said that if Mr Juncker’s term is prolonged “then an extension might be easier to manage” but pointed out it “still needs a UK PM to request it”.
They added: “I don’t think the Commission would be prolonged for many months. Donald Tusk wants to act swiftly and the election result is not a surprise.”
Theresa May will hold talks with the Council chief this morning ahead of an summit of EU leaders to start the process of carving up Brussels’ top jobs.
An EU source said the meeting was so the PM can update Mr Tusk on the situation in the UK and what she’ll say to leaders at dinner.
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Mr Selmayr said Brexit had been responsible for boosting EU elections turnout which was projected at just over 50 per cent - the highest level in 25 years.
He said: “I also see in this higher turnout the effect of a certain wake-up call.
“Trump and Brexit showed very much what is at stake, and Putin in the east.”
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