Thursday

28th Mar 2024

Barroso admits legitimacy problem for commission president post

  • Mr Barroso, formerly Portuguese PM, has been commission president since 2004 (Photo: Portuguese EU presidency 2007)

European commission president Jose Manuel Barroso has said that the European elections, regularly marked by voter apathy and low turnout, create a legitimacy problem for his post.

"I really believe we have a problem there," said Mr Barroso responding to a question about whether European citizens should have the power to directly elect the person to fill his post.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

He added that: "From a formal point of view, its a perfect system" but admitted that in practice it is different.

Under rules of the new EU treaty the president of the commission has to be chosen in light of the result of the European elections, meaning the post goes to a person of the political grouping that wins the most seats in the European Parliament.

Mr Barroso, who pointed to the fact that the French prime minister was chosen by the French president or that former British prime minister Tony Blair was an MP before being chosen to become leader, said that although the "commission has the same legitimacy as prime ministers (...) in practice this is not the case."

"The question is of substantive legitimacy," he said, while speaking at a dinner organised by the Centre for European Policy Studies on Wednesday (27 February).

Elections to the 785-seat EU assembly take place every five years. Despite attempts to create pan-European debate, fostered by the creation of European political parties and lately proposals to set up political foundations at the European level, the elections remain national affairs, often with local or domestic issues coming into play.

Analysts says that if citizens were casting their vote to choose from a list of candidate for the job of commission president then turnout would likely be much higher - in the last round of elections in 2004 turnout was around 30 percent in some member states.

Mr Barroso noted that there is "no European political space" adding that this would "take time" to get away from the current 28 political systems at play - those of the 27 member states and the "Brussels beltway."

The twin problems of European elections

While the elusive European political space is unlikely to spring up between now and the June 2009 European elections, an anti-EU treaty platform and the wish of the European Commission president to hold his post for a second time may go some way to fostering some European debate.

Ukraine slams grain trade restrictions at EU summit

Restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural exports to the EU could translate into military losses in their bid to stop Russia's war, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warned EU leaders during their summit in Brussels on Thursday.

Difficult talks ahead on financing new EU defence spending

With the war in Ukraine showing no signs of ending any time soon, EU leaders will meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday (21 and 22 March) to discuss how to boost the defence capabilities of Ukraine and of the bloc itself.

Opinion

Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

Latest News

  1. Kenyan traders react angrily to proposed EU clothes ban
  2. Lawyer suing Frontex takes aim at 'antagonistic' judges
  3. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  4. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  5. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  6. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  7. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  8. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us