About: President
Poland vetoes international tax agreement while all eyes are on France’s presidential elections
This week, our Beyond the Byline podcast focuses on Poland’s veto of a proposal for an EU directive that would implement the internationally agreed 15% minimum effective tax rate for large multinationals. What were the reactions, and what are the...
David Sassoli: A great pro-European and a great president of European Parliament
With David Sassoli, we have lost a great President of the European Parliament and a personality who is part of the Italian pro-European tradition writes Roberto Castaldi.Cypriot election: The political problem and the financial crisis
Cyprus' economic adjustment programme and banking sector reforms should be seen as a catalyst that will reinforce macroeconomic and financial stability in the country. Over the longer term, the exploitation of natural gas discoveries should substantially boost growth prospects and help lower debt, writes Stavros Papagianneas.
EU concern over Romanian power struggle
Attempts by Romania’s new prime minister, Victor Ponta, to impeach the country’s president Traian B?sescu – under way at an extraordinary meeting in the Bucharest parliament this afternoon – are rattling the Commission amidst concerns over democracy. VideoPromoted content
Hollande to have first date with Merkel
They will meet in only a few hours. The new French president Francois Hollande has already warned German Chancellor Angela Merkel that he wants growth to be the way out of the crisis. VideoPromoted content
Schulz 14th EP President
German social-democrat Martin Schulz on Tuesday became the 14th president of the European Parliament, beating two British MEPs with a clear majority. The victory of Schulz was no surprise. After the 2009 European elections, the two biggest parties in the parliament agreed to split the five-year presidency among them. Polish christian-democrat Jerzy Buzek held the presidency until today.Russia’s presidential primaries
"For many commentators, the primaries for the 2012 presidential elections in Russia have already started. Even if the two men at the top, Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin, are outwardly loyal to each other, there is considerable rivalry between their respective teams, who are above all keen to promote their own interests," writes Professor Eberhard Schneider of the EU-Russia Centre in a January paper.Two new leaders in search of a job description
Although the EU has appointed its first permanent president of the Council and High Representative for Foreign Affairs, "the question of precisely what powers they will exercise remains largely unknown, as it is not yet clear how they will perform as individuals and in tandem," write Piotr Kaczy?ski and Peadar ó Broin of the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in a November paper.The new EU appointees: First reactions may be wrong
"Two low-key appointees are more likely to construct the necessary basis for a stronger and more unified role for the EU on the world stage," writes Stanley Crossick, founding chairman of the European Policy Centre, in a November post on Blogactiv.Yet another EU president
The role, duties and power of the newly-elected president of the European Council are only vaguely defined in the Lisbon Treaty and will thus be clarified by the first incumbent, notes Dominik Hierlemann, a researcher at the Bertelsmann Stiftung, in a November paper.
Choosing ‘Mr(s). Europe’ [Archived]
The Treaty of Lisbon introduces two new European top jobs: a high-profile president to chair EU summit meetings for a two-and-a-half year term and a revamped foreign policy chief. However, selecting the right people to fill these positions proved a politically-sensitive task.Europe’s disreputable system for ‘fixing’ its president
"Europe needs an ethically robust system to choose a real leader with civic guts and moral courage," writes David Price, founder of the Schuman.info website, in a July post on Blogactiv.
EU Parliament opens amid horse-trading over top seats
A little more than a month after the elections, the European Parliament is preparing to re-start the EU's legislative engine this week. The 736 newly-elected MEPs will meet on 14-16 July in Strasbourg for a constitutive session aimed at appointing the president and vice-presidents of the new assembly and distributing top committee chairs.
Face-off between Italians, Poles over Parliament presidency
Banking on remaining the largest group in the EU assembly after the June elections, the centre-right EPP-ED group is already delving into its pool of delegates to select the appropriate candidate to nominate for the Parliament presidency: will it be Poland's Jerzy Buzek or Italy's Mario Mauro?
Spectre of Iraq war looms large over EU top jobs race
The opening of national inquiries into the decisions that led the British and Dutch governments to support the US-led invasion in Iraq may be extremely relevant to this year's race for top EU jobs, diplomatic sources told EURACTIV.
Sarkozy drops Blair as ‘Mr. Europe’ favourite
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has changed his mind over who should be the first ever permanent President of the European Council, according to press reports.The Lisbon Treaty: Playing Presidential poker?
The Treaty of Lisbon will change the way European politicians govern and cooperate in the future, says Dominik Hierlemann of the Bertelsmann Stiftung. But with unclear definitions of the new leadership roles, the top EU positions could prove confusing for the bloc's citizens, he warns in a March paper.Blair’s candidacy would give EU more credibility
Tony Blair would give the new position of Council President a "public momentum that very few others would," bringing "credibility to the EU project," argues Luis Simon, a teaching assistant at the Centre for European Politics, Royal Holloway College, University of London. But his candidacy ultimately depends on the "ability and will of the EU 27" to balance the divisions evoked by Iraq and his Eurosceptic image, he explains.