Gunther Krichbaum, the chairman of the Bundestag‘s powerful European scrutiny committee, said that he had been „shocked and dismayed“ at Mr Juncker‘s deceit.

„That does not create trust on decision-making. That is a very serious mistake because trust is important,“ he said.

Mr Krichbaum, a senior German MP and member of Angela Merkel‘s ruling Christian Democrats, warned that conspiracies to deceive the public over publicly funded bail-outs and elite meetings threatened to destroy the euro. „If we don‘t pay attention to this then Europe will fall apart,“ he said.