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Leading French MEP Alain Lamassoure is to put forward a motion for a Parliament resolution calling for a televised grilling of the candidates for the EU's future permanent president. Those asking the questions should be the heads of state and government of the 27 EU countries, he told EurActiv in an interview.
Bulgaria may lose some €11bn of EU funding because the European Commission does not trust the country's mechanisms for managing the European money from which it benefits as an EU member, EurActiv.bg reports.
The Treaty of Lisbon, expected to enter into force in 2009, introduces two new European top jobs: a high-profile president who will chair EU summit meetings for a two-and-a-half year term and a revamped foreign policy chief. (read more)
The ratification process for the Treaty of Lisbon began in December 2007 and is set to continue throughout 2008 - while most countries will ratify the treaty by parliamentary vote, Ireland is the only nation certain to put the text to a referendum, with the UK under strong pressure to do likewise. (read more)
EU leaders offcially signed the new Treaty at a Special Summit in Lisbon on 13 December. (read more)