PRESS RELEASE
Brussels, 18 June 2002

President of EU must be elected by the European Parliament

The Intergroup European Constitution has stressed its opposition to the idea that the European Council wants to elect a president for the EU. Such a presidency would command neither sufficient legitimacy, nor would it be transparent enough, declared the European deputies who have taken part in a comprehensive debate about this issue during the last parliamentary session in Strassbourg.

The president of the EU has to receive legitimacy directly from the citizens of the European Union. The president of the Union therefore has to be elected by the European Parliament, and not to be nominated by the European Council. The deputies emphasised that the president of the European Commission and not the president of the European Council should be the head of the executive in the EU. The community method favours the common "European interest" and guarantees the balance between large and small member states.

It would not be acceptable that a secretive agreement about such a fundamental issue between the President of the Convention and the leaders of the large member states would foresee the conclusions of the Convention itself.

Instead, the Convention should decide about the the role of the institutions in the EU on the basis of concrete texts. "The future must be a Europe of the citizens, and not an EU of the governments", declared the Intergroup deputies.

Contact : Bruno BOISSIERE Tel.:(02/508.30.30)
e-mail: bboissiere@skynet.be