Britain’s new EU Commissioner must pledge allegiance to Europe when he takes up role despite Brexit vote
Sir Julian King, the senior British diplomat picked to be the UK last European Commissioner, has promised to pledge allegiance to Europe when he takes up his new role and will not be drawn into a conflict of interest over Brexit negotiations.
Sir Julian, currently ambassador to Paris, at times faced hostile questioning in the European Parliament on Monday night from British eurosceptic MEPs who do not believe Britain should not have nominated a new EU Commissioner in the wake of the June 23 vote to leave the EU.
Janice Atkinson, a former Ukip MEP who now sits as an independent, led the attacks saying she was “deeply disturbed” that Sir Julian would not be working for 65m British people but swearing an oath of allegiance to Europe and its Commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker.
Sir Julian, who will formally cease working for the British government if confirmed in the position of EU Security Commissioner, repeatedly batted away the attacks and refused to speculate about Brexit issues.