01/09/2009 (Agence Europe) - In a motion adopted on 31 August 2009, the French section of the Union of European Federalists (UEF) calls on the European Parliament to postpone its decision on the date for appointing the new Commission president until its October 2009 session. The UEF argues that the candidate designated by the European Commission does not, so far, seem able to call up a “pro-European majority” within the EP and that he has himself stated that the date for his appointment was of secondary importance. The Federalists also consider the current Commission should, in any event, remain in operation several months beyond the end of its mandate on 31 October 2009. The UEF-France takes the view that the nominations of all the new senior EU officials (president and members of the Commission, permanent president of the European Council and High Representative) are part of a whole and should be grouped. It goes on to conclude: “The public expects the first important decision taken by the EP should not be dictated by diplomatic considerations but should, on the contrary, result from a clear and public choice of the persons and political direction that will govern the EU during the next five years”.