Irish vote sends Tony Blair racing to EU presidency

[oldironside]

"European leaders led by Angela Merkel of Germany and Nicolas Sarkozy of France will act swiftly to make the EU's reform charter a reality after Ireland's Yes vote, despite the lone resistance of Vaclav Klaus, president of the Czech Republic.

The strong endorsement of the Lisbon treaty by the Irish after eight years of divisive attempts to rewrite the EU's rule book, has sparked the jockeying for position over the plum jobs that it creates, with Tony Blair now a clear favourite to become the first permanent EU president.

The posts of president of the council and that of a new foreign policy chief with enhanced powers are among the biggest changes under the treaty. But the appointments will not be made in isolation. Who gets what will be intricately linked to the share-out of portfolios in the new European Commission, which will be strongly debated in the coming weeks."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/04/tony-blair-eu-presidency-race

Blair president of Europe? Not while I have a breath left in my body.

[Hopeless Romantic]

1. I am astonished

Does the Lisbon treaty allow for the appointment of a European president?

Shouldn't the president be democratically elected?

[oldironside]

2. The answers to your questions are...

... kind of and yes. Oh, and Tony Blair should be sitting in a prison cell. This is simply giving amunition to all those anti-Europeans who love to point to the lack of democracy. What better argument could UKIP be given?

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. The president, under the Lisbon treaty, will be appointed by the European Council

by a qualified majority. This is the 27 heads of government/state (eg 'of government' in our case - the PM; 'of state' for France - their president).

In theory, this President of the European Council doesn't have 'power', he/she just leads the meetings of the council:

6. The President of the European Council:
(a) shall chair it and drive forward its work;
(b) shall ensure the preparation and continuity of the work of the European Council in
cooperation with the President of the Commission, and on the basis of the work of the
General Affairs Council;
(c) shall endeavour to facilitate cohesion and consensus within the European Council;
(d) shall present a report to the European Parliament after each of the meetings of the
European Council.
The President of the European Council shall, at his level and in that capacity, ensure the
external representation of the Union on issues concerning its common foreign and security
policy, without prejudice to the powers of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign
Affairs and Security Policy.
The President of the European Council shall not hold a national office.’.

http://europa.eu/lisbon_treaty/full_text/index_en.htm (Article 1)

so that's why it's not a democratically elected post. But the post's influence will be a lot, I think. I really, really want someone other than Blair to get it.

[fedsron2us]

4. The prospect of Bair becoming EU President

seems to have evoked huge groan of despair from the vast majority of Britons. For all their supposed distaste for their continental neighbours most people seem to want the job to go to a Belgian, or a Pole or a Frenchman or a German, indeed anybody but Tony F****** Blair.

Still I look forward to him visiting the UK in his new capacity and being roundly booed by the populace.

If he does get the job then the EU is screwed for sure

[LeftishBrit]

9. Agreed

It will turn Britain against the EU (my own support for the EU might not survive that) and the EU against Britain.

Has no one learned from the disasters that Blair already caused?

[T_i_B]

5. The Downing Street petition against this is now here!

Please sign

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/notoBlair/

Another petition here, which has been going longer and has rather more signatures

http://www.gopetition.com/online/16745.html

Facebookers against Blair as EU President (a group stared by another DUer!)

http://www.facebook.com/share.php?appid=2530096808&src=box&tid=105161592117&u=http%3A%2F%2Fpetitions.number10.gov.uk%2FnotoBlair%2F#/group.php?gid=105161592117

http://www.stopblair.eu/

[Nihil]

6. Signed!

Thanks for posting the link.
:toast:

[oldironside]

7. Signed both...

... and passed the links on to everyone in my address book.

[LeftishBrit]

8. Signed both; thanks for links