23/01/2003 (Agence Europe) - In the Lettera diplomatica of December 2002, the former Italian Permanent Representative to the EU, Piero Calamia stresses the need, in the context of the present reform of the treaties, to safeguard the "evolutionary" nature of the European unification process. If we had tried, as early as 1957, to enshrine in the Treaty of Rome objectives like the single currency, CFSP, ESDP, "the Community train would not have left", whereas the "evolutionary nature of the process" allowed for these goals to be set later, he writes. Ambassador Calamia, moreover, renews his suggestions on the presidency of the Council and on the organisation of the Commission in an enlarged Union. Thus, the presidency of the Council, "to have full legitimacy ad credibility, must be rooted in the governments of Member States and involve, in the medium-term, all Member States", which would be "achievable" with a collegial presidency (4-5 Member States, co-ordinated by the most populated, for two years, for example). As for the Commission, according to him, one could imagine positions of Commissioners without portfolios of vice-presidents co-ordinating activities by sectors, or even joint designation of a Commissioner on te part of two Member States or more.