So the secret is out of the bag, the Labour Government is proposing Tony Blair as its candidate for the first EU Council/Commission President. So says Glenys Kinnock, you know that unelected Minister of Europe that was given this important position without as much as a nod to the UK electorate.
Also in case you thought that you would have a say in who is to be the first EU Council/Commission president, well you won’t! In the end the final decision will be made by a number of EU commission heads.
What is strange to me is that this position, still undefined by the EU is largely ceremonial as the European Parliament – which we all voted in recently has already elected its own President European Parliament, former Polish Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek.
So if the Lisbon treaty is ratified and it’s a big if and the EU Council/Commission does elect its first President, then we will then have two EUI presidents, one elected and one not!
No wonder people are confused about the whole aspect of the EU.
Beasley's Place 
I agree – it needs sorting out or the confusion will continue to damage the legitimacy, validity and capabilities of the whole organisation.
The EU could be an excellent organisation, but it continues to be undermined by politicians who are not true friends of democracy (ie most of the ones in power across the continent) and see political gains from attacking the weaknesses which they are responsible for mending and making work.
The irony is that they love getting the jobs and they love getting their snouts in the trough of expenses, but while they are prepared to use it to further their own ends they and use it to hinder those of their opponents they foster cynicism and scepticism about its purposes.
I find it maddening that 'the public' doubts what politicians say except when they launch attacks on the political institutions it is their job to support. It is completely pervese to use the platform provided by an institution to try to weaken it, and anyone who does so indicates their own incoherence – where would they be without it!
The simple truth is that political integration is the only lasting defence against disorder at every level from local to global – if we want peace and prosperity we must support and promote our democratic institutions: we must make them more democratic and more accountable.
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