Brussels, 11/11/2009 (Agence Europe) - The Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU has convened a special EU summit on Thursday 19 November 2009 (meeting over dinner in the early evening) to decide who will get the new EU jobs - the President of the European Council, the High Representative (HR) for Foreign Affairs and the new Secretary General of the Council. At a press conference in Brussels on Wednesday 11 November 2009, the Swedish prime minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt, said he would be suggesting to the heads of state a candidate for each of the three positions. He said that initial consultations with his 26 counterparts had not led to agreement on a package of candidates because, as Reinfeldt (the current President of the European Council) explained, balance has to be struck in a raft of areas (left-right, north-south, east-west, small countries-large countries and men-women). With only two truly political jobs to be decided upon (the Secretary General of the Council has to be a civil servant), it will not be easy to keep everyone happy, explained Reinfeldt, particularly because after consulting the other 26 governments, there were now “more names than posts to offer.” In the end, a qualified majority vote might be the only way of reaching agreement at the European Council, and this is foreseen in the Lisbon Treaty as it happens. The Swedish Presidency will do all it can to find a consensus but if that does not prove possible, it will not hesitate to vote on the issue to try and get the “broadest possible support” for the final outcome, added Reinfeldt. His list of possible candidates includes former and current heads of state, he said, adding that none of them had agreed to be candidates. He said he had not actually asked any of them if they would stand because before doing so, he would need to be virtually certain that the person in question would get the job and this would not be possible until the final stages of the negotiations. Indications suggest that it is proving tougher than expected to matchmake the ideal couple (President and HR). At the end of last week, Herman van Rompuy and David Miliband seemed to be acceptable to most member states, but the British foreign secretary's withdrawal (he was not actually an official candidate) and the UK's continued preference for Tony Blair to be President of the European Council is seriously complicating matters. In reality, all options are open and new names may emerge over the next few days.
Barroso II. Meanwhile, it is becoming ever more unlikely that the new Barroso Commission (Barroso II) will be able to take office ahead of 1 February 2010 (the Lisbon Treaty will come into force on 1 December 2009). People close to José Manuel Barroso say that he will need at least a week (after the European Council decides on the top two European jobs) to finalise the list of potential commissioners with the member states and decide who would get which portfolio. Once the portfolios have been decided upon, the 26 candidates (including the HR, who will be Vice-President of the Commission) will need two to four weeks to prepare for the hearings at the European Parliament. Speaking at the EP on Wednesday (see related article), Barroso said that there should be “no short-cut hearings” even though the establishment of a new European Commission is seriously behind schedule. Agreement between the EP and the European Commission on the exact timetable for the hearings may be reached at a meeting of the Conference of Presidents of the EP political parties next week, added Barroso. It looks likely, however, that the hearings will not take place until January 2010 (this view is also shared by the EP). In the best case scenario (in other words, if no problems arise with any of the candidates), the European Parliament may vote through its approval at the end of January, in which case the Barroso II Commission could take office on 1 February 2010. The slightest setback during the hearings (the rejection of a candidate by the MEPs, for example) could mean this will have to be postponed until 1 March 2010. This would mean that the current Barroso Commission would remain in place until February at the earliest. No explicit European Council decision is required for the Barroso I Commission to continue as a caretaker Commission until then. The mandate of the current High Representative, Javier Solana, would have to be extended again to that he can stay in office until the new Commission comes in, even though the name of the new HR will be known on 19 November and independently of the fact that the Lisbon Treaty will come into force on 1 December 2009. At a press conference on Wednesday, Elmar Brok (EPP) explained that the EP would never agree to the new HR taking office ahead of an EP hearing and approval by MEPs (as required for the other part of the job - Vice-President of the Commission). Brok said that the two different aspects of the new job were inseparable. These comments were echoed by Hannes Swoboda, the deputy chair of the Socialist Group at the EP. The Swedish Presidency seems to have a different view. Addressing the European Parliament on Wednesday afternoon, Reinfeldt said that it was “clearly stipulated in the Lisbon Treaty” that the High Representative would go directly into the job.
Several MEPs critical of lack of transparency in nominations
MEPs meeting in plenary session Brussels on Wednesday 11 November called on the Swedish Presidency to do everything possible to reach agreement on the posts provided for by the Lisbon Treaty by 19 November, while making clear some of the criteria they would like to see met in the selection of the new full-time European Council President and High Representative (HR). Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the ALDE group, who was critical of the lack of transparency in discussions on these posts (he also proposed that thought should be given on another method for the future), said that the President of the European Council should be a “chairman, rather than a president”, he should believe in European integration (“When they elect a Pope, they take a Catholic”) and he should be a supporter of the Community method. As for the HR, he should work to bring greater coherence to the CFSP, defend human rights and back a “strong” European diplomatic service. Verhofstadt also recommended that José Manuel Barroso structure the new Commission in four clusters (external action, climate/innovation, economy/finance, justice/home affairs), each under the charge of a vice-president. Hannes Swoboda (S&D) highlighted the need for geographical and gender balance in nominations. “I don't think that the EU can allow itself to be governed only by men,” he said. Rebecca Harms (Greens) fully shared this view. “The EU must have at its head strong men and women,” she said. At the moment, the names mentioned in the press are not convincing, Harms said. Joseph Daul, the EPP group leader, said it was crucial that institutional issues be settled once and for all. “The institutional debate is of interest only to the Brussels chattering classes”, while European citizens wanted the EU to resolve real problems, such as climate change, energy security and unemployment, Daul stressed. Timothy Kirkhope, leader of the Conservatives, criticised the lack of transparency in the appointments process. He would also have liked job descriptions and the scope of the new posts to have been decided first, before speaking of possible candidates. (H.B./transl.fl/rt)