EU: Mr John Bruton has called on the Convention on the Future of Europe to endorse the direct election of the Commission president by European citizens. In a paper distributed to all members of the Convention, Mr Bruton says such an election is an essential step towards making the EU more democratic.
"The citizens of Europe must feel that they can, through their vote, change the direction and the personnel in charge of European policy-making. The capacity that voters have at national level to "put the government out of office" is a vital democratic safety valve. That capacity does not exist at European Union level. The new constitutional treaty must create such a capacity. If it fails to do so, EU policies will lack sufficient visible democratic mandate and the Union will founder," he said.
Mr Bruton is a member of the Convention's powerful praesidium, which will have an important role in drafting a new constitutional treaty for the EU. But his proposal is unlikely to receive much support, particularly from national governments.
Germany and some smaller member-states want the European Parliament to choose the Commission president, while Britain wants to retain the present system where EU leaders make the appointment. The Government favours the creation of an electoral college, composed of MEPs and national parliamentarians, to choose the president.
Mr Bruton said that opinion polls showed that the direct election of the president is the method most favoured by EU citizens. He warned that allowing the European Parliament to elect the Commission president could undermine the Commission's political independence.
"It would make the Commission dependent on a particular parliamentary majority and create an unhealthy tension between it and the parliamentary minority which had opposed the election of the president. The current power of the Parliament to remove the Commission from office gives it sufficient power to hold the Commission to account, without taking the further step of allowing parliament, not the people, to elect the Commission president," he said.
Mr Bruton suggested the election of the Commission president could take place on the same day, every four years, as the European Parliament elections. He says that candidates could be nominated by a minimum of 20 per cent of deputies in each of six parliaments, including the parliament.