Brussels, 03/02/2003 (Agence Europe) - Two members of the Convention - Andrew Duff, British Liberal Democrat MEP, and Lamberto Dini, former Italian Foreign Minister - presented the European Convention with the first formal proposal on the election of a single President of the Union who would chair both the European Council and European Commission. Mr. Dini had already associated himself with the idea of a single presidency backed by Pierre Lequiller, representative of the French National Assembly in the Convention (EUROPE of 11 January, p.6 and 25 January, p.5). This president, who would exercise both the executive powers of the Commission and the Council, would be elected jointly by the European Council and the European Parliament, and could be censored by them. A legislative Council would be chaired by a minister, whereas four formations of the Executive Council would be chaired by this "integrated presidency".
In a press release, Andrew Duff stresses that the proposal aims essentially to separate "the executive from the legislative work of the Council" and bring together "all government functions under one presidency", which would avoid the risk of "deadly rivalry between the Council and Commission".