EU: The European Commission has branded as confusing a proposal from France and Germany for a long-term president of the European Council.
France and Germany proposed the new post on Tuesday as part of their contribution to a debate on the constitutional shape of the EU after it admits 10 new members.
Their plan also envisages bolstering the head of the European Commission, whose task is to uphold common EU interests, thus effectively creating a double-headed presidency in Brussels.
"We don't think we need two executives in Brussels with two different tiers of bureaucracy that would end up competing with one another," the chief Commission spokesman, Mr Jonathan Faull, said yesterday. "We don't think that is an intelligent way to reform the European Union with a view to making it more legitimate and understandable to its citizens..
Mr Faull rejected suggestions that the creation of the new post was inevitable because it had backing from both Paris and Berlin and said many member-states shared the Commission's view.
Smaller EU states such as Belgium and the Netherlands strongly oppose such a council presidency, fearing it would be dominated by big countries and would marginalise the Commission, seen as defender of equality among all members.
"We are not particularly alarmed," Mr Faull said, adding that the Commission welcomed the closer co-operation between France and Germany after a period of relative inactivity.
The Franco-German plan will be discussed next week at the Convention on the Future of Europe, a forum of parliamentarians and officials drafting a constitution for an enlarged EU.
Under the plan, the new Council president, chosen by the EU national leaders from their own ranks, would serve up to five years. He or she would chair summits, set the EU's strategic direction and be the face of the Union on the world stage. The Commission president would be elected directly by the European Parliament, thus gaining in political clout, though the appointment would also require the assent of member governments.
That president would retain the right to initiate legislation and would continue to oversee common EU policies, including the internal market, trade and competition.
France and Germany also backed the idea of an EU foreign minister, who would sit in the Commission but report also to national governments. Member states, not the Commission, would retain the final say on foreign policy and security issues.