Monday, October 05, 2009

Who would dare say no?

to Tony getting the top job at the EU?

Just the electorate, so really, who cares?

On his Coulisses de Bruxelles blog, Jean Quatremer looks at whether or not Tony Blair might be the first EU permanent President if the Lisbon Treaty is ratified, and quotes a high-level French diplomat saying "No-one dared to oppose Barroso. Who will dare say no to Tony Blair?" Quatremer adds that the Iraq war will not cause a problem for the former British PM, since, according to the same French diplomat, "only public opinion is concerned about this, not the 27 Heads of State and Government that will vote him in".


and

Who wants Tony Blair?

It means that the democratically elected prime ministers and presidents of each country are able to be EU President on a rotating basis. Nobody is pretending that this system is ideal. But it seems a damn sight fairer and more democratic than simply handing the post, complete with enormous new salary, perks, pension and prestige for two and a half years at a time to an ex-leader who has fallen from grace in his or her own country, as will be case under Lisbon.


Just the government. So it must be OK.

Right?

No comments: