Brussels, 10/04/2008 (Agence Europe) - The future permanent president of the European Council, provided for in the Lisbon Treaty, should, in the opinion of Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht be an organiser rather than a real leader of the Union. “The permanent president should chair and encourage European Council debates and not lead the whole Union,” he told the Belgian Parliament in the debate on ratifying the Lisbon Treaty, which does not clearly state the role of this new post. The member states and Community institutions will, before the end of the year, have to decide the exact powers and this will, of course, affect the choice of the first person to occupy the post. Belgian MEP Jean-Luc Dehaene (EPP-ED) is currently working on a European Parliament report on the institutional preparation for the coming into effect of the Lisbon Treaty, including the issue of the powers of the president of the European Council. Dehaene, too, believes that “the Lisbon Treaty did not seek to create a 'president of Europe', only a 'president of the European Council'”. “When setting out the exact powers of the European Council, this will have to be borne in mind,” he noted (see EUROPE 9612). (H.B.)