Johannes Voggenhuber, member of the European Convention, today insisted that any future European Foreign Minister should be answerable to the European Parliament. He also pleaded for the Commission's president to be elected by the European Parliament and for the European council to be chaired by the Commission's president. In amendments that Voggenhuber is presenting to the Convention, he outlines his view on the European foreign minister, the Commission's president and the European Council as follows:

The Foreign Minister shall be appointed by the European Council by qualified majority and be subject to the assent of the European parliament by the majority of its members. He shall be submitted, together with the President and other members of the Commission, to a vote of approval by the European Parliament. His responsibilities as a full member of the Commission and as European Foreign Minister are clearly distinguished. He shall be responsible to the European Parliament in both of his roles and to the European Council in his activities as Foreign Minister. Consequently, he shall be subject to a censure motion by the European Parliament for all of his activities and to a censure motion by the European Council for his activities as a Foreign Minister.

The President of the Commission shall be elected by the European Parliament by a majority of ist members and approved by the European Council acting by qualified majority. The President-elect, ensuring that the Commission will not be dominated by any individual or group of Member States, shall select - from people chosen for their competence and European commitment - up to thirteen members of the Commission. The European Parliament shall in future be able to pass a censure motion not only on the Commission as a whole, but also on individual members.

The European Council shall not become a new institution but remain defined as it is in article 4 of the Treaty. In order to guarantee continuity it shall be chaired by the President of the Commission, who shall also chair the General Affairs Council. The Foreign Affairs Council shall be chaired by the Foreign Minister. Other ministerial councils shall be chaired by a rotating presidency of the Member States.

Contrary to the Praesidium proposal, all legislation - without exception - shall be jointly adopted by the European Parliament and the Legislative Council in accordance with the legislative procedure. This includes both the budget and the financial perspective.