FEATURE: The new European Council President

Last week another potential candidate as European Council President appeared in the news. Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern would join other big names for the post, including former British PM Tony Blair, and current EU Commission President Jose’ Manuel Barroso. But do we know exactly what this post is? And what kind of man – or woman – we need to do this job?

The new Presidency is one of the innovations of the late constitution, and has been kept in the Reform Treaty. A politician would be chosen to become President of the European Council - i.e. the EU governments - and would be in charge for two and a half years (renewable for one more term), instead of the current system, which has a rotating presidency changing every six months.

The benefits are clear: it would ensure more continuity to the actions of the Council, and would give a "face" to the EU. It is however still difficult to understand what role he or she will practically play, and in what it will differ from the other newly created post, which many have refused to name as "EU Foreign Minister" but which will be, in practise, very close to that.

Mr Ahern hasn't declared his intention yet, but has a good card to play. If his government succeeds in winning the referendum to pass the Lisbon Treaty, this will give him enough credibility and legitimacy.

Among other candidates, Tony Blair has been supported by French PM Nicolas Sarcozy, but his chances to succeed have decreased. Many politicians don’t think that the post should be given to a country that hasn't joined the Euro, doesn’t take part in the Schenghen agreement and has secured too many opt-outs on the Treaty. An on-line campaign against the nomination of Blair is being carried out.

The other possible candidates include Jose' Manuel Barroso, the head of the EU Commission, but whose mandate ends only in July 2009; Luxembourg PM Jean-Claude Juncker, who is backed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and is an experienced EU politician; and Danish PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who wants to reopen the debate in Denmark about joining the Euro.

The game, therefore, is still open, and anyone of these, or someone else, has enough chances to succeed.

British MPs reject referendum on Lisbon Treaty

The UK Parliament on March 5 turned down the Tories’ attempt to hold a referendum on the Lisbon treaty, which substituted the EU constitution after French and Dutch voters rejected it in national referenda in 2005.

With a narrow majority of 311 votes against 248, MPs rejected the amendment to the EU treaty Bill and decided that the new treaty will instead be ratified through parliamentary vote.

The debate on the treaty has flamed UK parliamentary works for the last months, and a growing pressure has been mounted on Prime Minister Gordon Brown to hold a referendum after he signed the treaty in Lisbon last December.

David Cameron, the Tory leader, accused Mr Brown of breaking the promise his government made in 2005 that British citizens would be given the chance to have their say on the EU constitution.

But Mr Brown denied that. He said that the new treaty may not be compared to the late constitution and a referendum wasn’t needed any longer, as the UK government had already assured Britain opt-outs in vital areas and national sovereignty would not be put at risk.

Yesterday’s vote, however, showed how divisive the issue still is among British MPs. 29 Labour MPs voted in favour of the amendment, while three Tories said they were against a referendum.

Among Liberal Democrats, despite their leader Nick Clegg ordered to abstain from a vote, several voted in favour of a referendum and three frontbenchers resigned.

The treaty is now expected to be ratified by next summer.

What are the main changes of the Lisbon Treaty

The Lisbon Treaty will change how the EU works. It needs to be ratified by all member states to come into force. Ireland is the only country having a referendum.

Here is a short summary of the main changes:

- it amends existing Treaties to work more effectively in an enlarged EU of 27 states;

- it creates a permanent President of the Council (2,5 years renewable once, instead of the current 6-month rotation) giving greater continuity to the EU policies. Britain's former PM Tony Blair was one of the candidates, although some countries oppose this;

- it creates a High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (merging the existing posts of external relations Commissioner and High Representative for common foreign and security policy). Some argue this is the same post as the European Foreign Minister that had been rejected in the EU Constitution by French and Dutch voters in 2005;

- it reduces the size of the Commission from 27 to 15 (no longer one Commissioner for each country, in a move intended to make the Commission work more effectively). Some coutries are afraid that losing for one term their Commissioner will give them some disadvantages.

- it reduces the number of MEPs to 751;

- it increases areas where MEPs have their saying to approve EU legislation alongside national Ministers in the Council (known as codecision);

- it gives national parliaments a bigger saying in the making of the EU legislation. If one third disagrees with the Commission's proposal, this is sent back for revision (yellow card). If the majority of parliaments is against, it can be rejected (orange card). Some argue that these provisions are not enough to involve national parliaments in the EU legislative process;

- it simplifies rules on enhanced cooperation, giving EU countries the opportunity to work more closely on certain issues, without affecting other EU countries which do no want to do so;

- it incorporates the Charter of Fundamental Rights into EU law, so that EU institutions respect those rights. However the Charter doesn’t extend the powers of EU institutions and the UK has an opt-out on this part;

- the Qualified Majority Voting system will be extended in many new areas (immigration, police cooperation, climate channge, but NOT in foreign policy, tax and defence, where unanimity is needed) ;

- there will be a new system for voting, called Double Majority Voting (55 per cent of member states representing 65 per cent of EU legislation) which will begin in 2014.