Marjorie Smith
The EU's new President (as constituted under the Lisbon treaty) is due to be selected in Brussels Thursday evening or more likely Friday morning. What will be a far less powerful position than many imagine, will be the subject of intense horse-trading and brinkmanship by the 27 Member States.
Whoever becomes EU President will find themselves in an institutional position more akin to the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, a constitutional position more akin to the President of Germany or Ireland and in a ceremonial position more akin to the Secretary-General of the UN. In other words and in many respects, a sheep in wolf's clothing.
Like any multilateral international negotiations, the process is complicated whenever there is either no clear candidate or that the selection process is semi-informal and unstructured. Both apply in this case. Calls for the President to be elected abound at the present time, yet for many, such a course of action would undermine the very purpose of the EU.
This is because many people seem to fundamentally misunderstand how the EU President will be selected and why having a direct election would be problematic.
Whoever becomes EU President will find themselves in an institutional position more akin to the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, a constitutional position more akin to the President of Germany or Ireland and in a ceremonial position more akin to the Secretary-General of the UN. In other words and in many respects, a sheep in wolf's clothing.
Like any multilateral international negotiations, the process is complicated whenever there is either no clear candidate or that the selection process is semi-informal and unstructured. Both apply in this case. Calls for the President to be elected abound at the present time, yet for many, such a course of action would undermine the very purpose of the EU.
This is because many people seem to fundamentally misunderstand how the EU President will be selected and why having a direct election would be problematic.
The accusations in the right-wing press are flying thick and fast: Just like the Soviet Union! Decisions made behind closed doors! Typically secretive! Anti-democratic! Etc. Etc. These are just some of the ignorant headlines being bandied about by many and not just by eurosceptics.
The basic premise to remember is that the EU is a club of 27 members, it's as simple as that. The members are the individual Member States, The commission is the staff and the European Parliament is the management committee.
It's up to the 27 who they appoint and if there isn't going to be consensus, then a democratic vote will be taken amongst the 27. The vote will be by Qualified Majority Vote (QMV) with the larger Member States having a bigger weighting roughly according to population size. Seems eminently democratic to me.
For those, who claim it is anti-democratic, what exact element of democracy would they like to see? If the President of the EU, as constituted according to the Lisbon Treaty was to be directly elected, then he/she would receive a democratic mandate that would serve as a competing centre of power to the Member States. It would also serve as a competing power to the directly elected European Parliament.
Eurosceptics would end up with a new powerful trans-national European institution with a direct fully democratic legitimacy that would not be dependent on any Member State for their power base. Is that what they want when they accuse the present system of being anti-democratic? Of course not, they just want a stick to beat the EU with and any stick will do.
The other main criticism is that nobody knows who is standing, just that the post should be filled by a person who preferably currently holds high political office or has done so recently. Since this is a new post, there is no recognised system of choosing a President, hence people currently treading warily. Secondly, it's inevitable that current Prime Ministers have not formally applied for the position, because it would be political suicide at home, if their names where formally put forward and they didn't win.
The actual position is far less powerful, or influential, than many suppose. Unlike in France or the USA, the role of EU President will be one of coordination, representation and chairing not one of leadership, policy formulation and carrying out a democratic mandate for change. The position of EU Foreign Minister is a much more influential role and being an institutional hybrid, has far more scope to be a player.
The actual position is far less powerful, or influential, than many suppose. Unlike in France or the USA, the role of EU President will be one of coordination, representation and chairing not one of leadership, policy formulation and carrying out a democratic mandate for change. The position of EU Foreign Minister is a much more influential role and being an institutional hybrid, has far more scope to be a player.
If those who criticise the process have constructive alternatives to what is currently happening would like to make their suggestions known that would be most welcome. But, as ever, those who are most vociferous about the EU are usually the most ignorant about it as well.
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