Jon Worth has just launched a new campaign that aims at replacing European Commission President Barroso with…well, anyone but Barroso. And it is even featured in this weeks European Voice!
The “Anyone but Barroso” – Campaign calls for a new Commission President in 2009:
We don’t care who but the Commission needs a new President in 2009
1) 3 countries have voted No in recent referendums about European matters.
2) The EU has a crisis of confidence, a crisis of identity
3) Under these circumstances, the head of the EU’s executive, Commission president Barroso, must NOT be reappointed.
And since it is a typical online campaign, you can get involved! You can sign the petition and join and invite others on facebook. And make sure to read the campaign blog. Although not much content is provided at the moment, this will surely change soon!
It is an interesting idea especially because there is a real possibility of a second term for José Manuel Barroso. He has been rather active to lobby member states about the necessity for his second term. And member states so far have been reluctant to actually make the case for another candidate. The danger is that there will be another four years “muddling through”… Obviously the campaign has to be seen as a first step towards a debate on who actually should become Commission President as pure negative campaigning is not always the way to go.
I think it is also important to get people to think about the performance of the present Commission as an act of politicizing EU affairs! Actually it is quite a good example for what’s wrong with the EU at the moment: Basically the most powerful position in EU politics is decided on the “Justus Lipsius carpet market” as Graham Watson (MEP) once said. There is another campaign out there that calls for a democratic election of the Commission President: Who’s your candidate? wants to get the main European parties to nominate their candidate for Commission President before the 2009 EP elections in order to give the position a greater democratic mandate!
4 Comments
Thanks for the link!
We’ll be adding more content in due course – all of us are rather busy with a load of other stuff at the moment!
Why have not the EU level politcal parties taken the lead to openly debate and to launch their candidates for Commission President?
Not openly, but almost openly… look http://www.tellbarroso.eu. European elections indeed are near…
I HATE HATE HATE this man. Greedy, power crazy tyrant.
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