Guy Verhofstadt becomes leader of ALDE

Guy Verhofstadt has become leader of the Liberal group, ALDE, in an unopposed contest after UK MEP Diane Wallis dropped out of the race at the last minute. ALDE is the third largest group in the European Parliament after the EPP and PASD.

Politically it means that if he decides to challenge Barroso for the Commission Presidency (it's unlikely since he would need the support of the EPP, and the - even less likely - support (or acquiescence) of the Council to manage it) he may have a stronger base in the ALDE and would be part of the Presidents of the EP who will decide on whether or not to put Barroso's second term to the vote in July. This is all a big stretch, though, but if the Commission Presidency vote is delayed to the autumn, then Barroso's candidature enters dangerous waters and it would give any Parliamentary challenger time to gather support.

At this point, and even if the vote is deferred, the most probable scenario is that Barroso will be re-appointed, and the Liberals or the PASD will win a half-term of the European Parliament Presidency.

It will be interesting to see how Verhofstadt will work in the EP (and if he'll use much of his group's speaking time. Will he try to make the Liberals a more coherent group, and will he work towards a coherent European campaign for the next elections (though it should be noted that ALDE consists of 2 Europarties), and how would he go about it?

Dreams of Presidency (3)

The EUobserver has interviewed Graham Watson, the leader of the Liberal Group in the EP who is hoping to become the President of the European Parliament after the European elections. The suggestion that the EPP and the PES have already decided on the next two presidents does not bode well for Watson's campaign. German Liberal MEP Alexander Alvaro, though he supports Watson's candidature as a positive move, has said in an interview that without a PES-EPP split, Watson's chances are "close to zero". (Alvaro's interview covers a lot of other topics related to the EP elections).

Several issues are covered in Watson's interview, including ALDE's prospects at the next election (Watson hopes to retain the same proportion of seats, of course), the environmental impact of the EP, and his campaign for the presidency. While he highlights the need to bring the EP, and the EU as a whole, closer to citizens, no specific examples of how this could be achieved were given.

Watson has a website especially set up for his campaign, and there's a section where you can ask him questions, if you want to be more activist.

Dreams of Presidency (2)

Graham Watson has produced his 5 priorities (or "themes") for his presidency of the European Parliament, should he be elected after the EP elections later this year. A new website has even been set up for his campaign.

Unfortunately, the themes outlined aren't that original or surprising (raise public debate and awareness of EP, make it more citizen-focused, etc.), so the week taken to mull them over is a bit odd. It will be interesting to see any proposals on how to further these aims, and I look forward (hopefully not naively) to seeing them emerge soon.

Still, despite some of my doubts over the worth of running for the EP Presidency (as apposed to trying to promote a Commission President candidate), and the likelihood of his campaign being a success, I can still see merit in running for the post, if a push is made to thrust the campaign into the public consciousness (perhaps as part of the EP election campaign?). Maybe Watson can do this.

"I will be pleased to debate my platform publicly with any other candidate prior to the vote."

It maybe far too much to hope for, but if there was a televised debate aired in all member states (and aired at a decent time of day), perhaps with an audience who could ask questions, it would be a great boost to the EP's image and to the EP elections generally.

Of course, other parties would have to put up candidates who'll agree to this; it would have to be organised, probably quite quickly; broadcasters in all the member states will have to be brought into it and there will be technicalities with broadcasting simultaneously (Perhaps the European Broadcasting Union's experience could help here?).... Also, a presidential-style debate may not be the best for the post, considering that a style based on consensus is perhaps a better style for a parliamentary speaker. And at the moment I remain blissfully unaware of the funding of the EP campaigns and how much such a debate would eat up money for campaigning on the streets.

But maybe the idea is worth mooting, if only to try and boost the EP's legitimacy. A simple parliamentary debate within the EP isn't going to do too much for the public's awareness, and Europarltv won't reach enough people for it to only be shown there.



Edit: There's a BBC Blog on the EP at the moment. In the entry for Wednesday 11am, it talks about Watson's EP presidental bid and quotes him several times. Extracts below:

"He believes it is in serious need of reform: "One of the things that frustrates me about this place is that it has never quite convinced me as a Parliament.""

"He believes the Parliament lacks the self-confidence to punch its weight and says it needs "to be a little bit more citizen-friendly and little bit more open". Crucial to this, he argues, is greater openness and accountability on allowances."

"The current EU President has also set up a working group for Parliamentary reform - but Mr Watson thinks this does not go nearly far enough. He wants to raise the profile of the Parliament's policies and personalities "so that people will be more motivated to go out and vote". That does not mean just televising Parliamentary debates - "because watching a Parliamentary debate is like watching paint dry" - but packaging the type of work Parliament does "so that people understand how we arrive at legislation"."

"He wants the European Parliament to work more closely with national Parliaments "on the design of legislation that is going to work" and on the implementation of policy. He says the European Parliament has grown in power since he first entered it, when the Commission was all-powerful. Now the power resides in the Council of Ministers, but that institution is increasingly bogged down in disputes between the 27 member states, and with its new power to recall legislation which is not working, he believes it could flex its muscles much more. Like most MEPs, he is frustrated by the lack of coverage in the British media, compared with France, Germany and other countries. Britain is "uniquely and anachronistically" focused on Westminster, when many of the real decisions are now taken elsewhere, including in Europe, he argues."

This sounds more promising. Hopefully his plans will be expanded on a lot in the run up to the election.

Dreams of Presidency

Graham Watson, the leader of the Liberal group in the European Parliament has decided to run for the Presidency of the Parliament (basically running for the position of "speaker" of the EP).

Traditionally the position has been "shared" by the two biggest parliamentary groups, the Christian Democrats and the Socialists, with a MEP from one group holding the position for 2 1/2 years and then a MEP from the other for the next 2 1/2 years (the MEPs are elected every 5 years). But Watson's ambition is to bring the debate on who should be president away from "backroom deals in smoke-filled rooms." (Maybe a smoking ban in all EU buildings would do the job just as well?)

Considering that the office of President doesn't have much power associated with it (it would mostly involve representing the EP at official functions and meetings and ensuring that the procedural rules of the EP are followed by its members as well as chairing debates), it may be a better move to come up with a candidate for the Commission (either a Liberal one or a joint one with another party) and through the EP elections pressure the Council to accept its choice. But if you can do both - and they try to - then all the better.

But I'm nit-picking about this. Any move to try and make the selection of EU office holders more open and transparent is very welcome, and it's good that Europarliamentarians are trying to come up with ways of pushing this agenda.

It will be interesting to see how much this move will actually make a difference in the debate. Since the president is elected by MEPs, and the post isn't one which excites the public, debate is unlikely to extend much further than the EP itself. Also, MEPs do tend to vote with their groups - it would have been hard to keep the Grand Coalition of the Christian Democrats and the Socialists going for so long if they didn't - so as the Liberals are only the third biggest group, Watson will have to attract the support of MEPs from the other groups. If he is unable to break the Grand Coalition (which did break down briefly in the last parliament (1999-2004)), will he be forced to change his platform to please the groups further to the left and right of the Grand Coalition? Or will he stick to his platform, either hoping to the end that he can break the Grand Coalition, or simply with the aim of setting a precedent, not really aiming to win?

In terms of what Watson would be like as President, I can imagine him doing a good job at representing the EP, if only because it seems that he seems to be on Europarltv more often than any other MEP (as far as I can tell), and he seems to communicate quite well. If he can use the post to promote the EP in the wider public consciousness (and he would have to go beyond Europarltv for that), it would be a great service for the EP and promoting the democratic side of the EU (a big if, as it'd be a huge task).

The priorities of a Watson presidency will be released next week.