Juncker’s deputy Timmermans bids to succeed him as EU Commission chief

Frans Timmermans, the deputy head of the European Union executive, launched a bid to succeed his boss Jean-Claude Juncker next year. Timmermans said on Wednesday he would seek to lead the center-left campaign for May’s European Parliament elections. The former Dutch foreign minister said he hoped to run a “beautiful and optimistic campaign” in defense of a European Union which he has helped see through several crises since European Commission President Juncker made him his first vice-president in 2014, Reuters reports. Timmermans, whose fluency and passionate speaking style in German, English, French and Italian among other European languages may make him a formidable campaigner across the continent, stands a good chance of winning the formal backing of the center-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group in the EU. Polls show, however, the left struggling across Europe. The way in which national leaders will nominate Juncker’s successor is not yet agreed.