Rotate! EU Presidency in Blair’s Hands Until Year’s End

The European Union has a leadership vacuum. This crisis was highlighted, oddly enough, by the recent rejection of the very constitution that would have given the EU a more permanent leader.

Soon we will see another factor drawing attention to this vacuum: The fact that the man now occupying the EU’s rotating presidency comes from a country whose citizens are, on the whole, opposed to the very idea of the EU.

As it stands, the EU is “led” by a new president every six months—a system that rotates through the heads of state of each of the 25 member nations. As of July 1, British Prime Minister Tony Blair holds that position. Mr. Blair—who in recent elections became virtually a lame duck within his own, mostly anti-EU country—is now the voice of the European Union until the end of the year.

This state of affairs will certainly agitate member nations that are more committed to the Union (in the past month, Britain has made enemies among Europhiles by shelving its constitution referendum and by standing firm on a controversial budget issue). Antagonism toward Britain is bound to grow.

How can we expect the situation to play out? Not only will Britain’s six-month presidency likely contribute to Britain’s eventual exit from the Union, it will further bring to light the lameness of the rotating presidential system that is currently strapping the EU down.

The idea behind the six-month rotation is that it gives every nation a turn at leading the combine of 25 nations—allowing for leadership that more likely represents the wishes of each nation. But many say the position is essentially toothless—that the EU’s president only serves in a diplomatic fashion, as a moderator and organizer for issues concerning member nations. Others contend that the position gives too much power, even if for a short while, to smaller nations who could use the position to divert precious resources to their own national issues that do not concern the greater EU.

Whatever the problem with the office, many Eurocrats know that for Europe to forge ahead, the six-month position needs to be dumped. That is partly why they threw their support behind the constitution, which reforms the EU presidency into a 2½-year position, renewable once for the same amount of time.

We can be sure that the six-month presidency will soon be discarded. Britain’s leadership over the next half-year may just give Europe’s policymakers the impetus needed to follow through on a change. If it is not replaced with a position as outlined in the draft constitution, something strikingly similar will result.

As we have asserted for some time now, Europe is destined to be led by a powerful strongman. Soon the Continent will become less bureaucratic and by necessity less democratic. There will be less talk, less consultation, less wheeling and dealing, and more lightning-speed action. Power will be given to one man to lead a united Europe to a position of dominance.

Who will this leader be? We have several articles that pose likely answers to that question. You may also read our free booklet Germany and the Holy Roman Empire for more background and information.