With the Lisbon Treaty now to come into force, MEPs zeroed in on the question of top EU as they faced Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfelt and Commission President José Manuel Barroso in Parliament's chamber.
With the Lisbon Treaty now to come into force, MEPs zeroed in on the question of top EU as they faced Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfelt and Commission President José Manuel Barroso in Parliament's chamber. What kind of Council President, what kind of commissioners, what kind of High Representative do Europe's parliamentarians want?
New EU-top jobs and new Commission
Swedish Prime minster Fredrik Reinfeldt announced that the Swedish presidency will hold a meeting of Heads of states and governments on 19 November to fill the positions created by the Lisbon Treaty. In the meeting they will "nominate the President of the European council, the High Representative and the Secretary General of the Council". Fredrik Reinfeldt expressed that he doesn’t wish to speculate over the people who will fill the posts.
President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso: "I want a new Commission composed of competent and committed Europeans. I also want a Commission with a strong democratic mandate. The Treaty gives the capacity to act, but we need to have the willingness to act together."
The leader of the EPP Joseph Daul told to Mr Barroso that "…once the member states have designated their candidates [for commissioners posts] you should move as quickly as possible to establish their portfolios, so that they can be heard by the EP in hearings that we want to be as in depth as possible.
Socialist MEP Hannes Swoboda asked Mr Reinfeldt "are you ready to talk to the heads of state to ensure that we have a gender and a geographical balance [in the Commission] and are you prepared to ensure that there are powerful ladies involved?"
Liberal Leader Guy Verhofstadt underlined that the position as President of council should be filled by "Somebody, who believes in EU integration and not eurosceptic, and believes in community method that takes Europe forward."
German Green MEP Rebecca Harms: "We need to agree that we want strong men and women in the top positions of the EU. Mr Reinfeldt, unfortunately I'm not able to congratulate you because there is as yet no sign of any strong men and women coming forward."
Timothy Kirkhope for the ECR group commented: "The discussion is degenerating into a shabby debate between government leaders who appear to be only interesting in sharing out jobs amongst themselves...Some are even trying to divide the European Union into 2 classes of citizens, by saying that only individuals coming from States in the Schengen area and the Eurozone should be eligible.
German MEP Lothar Bisky (GUE/NGL): "It would be a good idea if the head of states and governments were to use the summit for more practical and concrete politics. The biggest challenge the world has to face is climate change. We're heading towards the world climate conference in Copenhagen and I'm afraid the EU is not taking up the leading role that it said it would."
William Dartmouth, (EFD): Commenting on the new post of the High Representative, he said, "the problem facing Europe is not too few diplomatic missions but too many unemployed."