President of the European Union

As president of the European Union, or EU President a highest office in the sense of a state or government will be discussed in the debate on the political system of the European Union.

General Use

As the " EU President " are commonly the President of the European Council ( the College of Heads of State and Government of the EU Member States, a policy planning body ) or the President of the European Commission ( the top executive). While the Commission is appointed by the European Council with the consent of the European Parliament to five years, the President of the European Council will be appointed for two and a half years by the same body alone. The first term is similar to a prime minister. The other has no real correspondence, most comparable is in federal states, the chairman of a meeting of heads of governments of the constituent states, but usually does not have that much influence in national states.

The also sometimes been called President of the European Parliament or the Chairman of the Council of the European Union ( the Council of Ministers rotates every six months ), both as a typical leader of parliament no state or government, but enforcement bodies of the supreme bodies of the legislative ( Parliament Speaker).

Reform debate

In the European Convention which drafted the EU Constitution Treaty of 2004, was a double functions discussed ( double-hat debate ). The debate was at the Constitutional Convention of the large double-hatting, namely the merger of the offices of the Commission President and the Chairman of the European Council ( changed every six months in the States ) to a President of the European Union. Goal was to better integrate the European Commission and the European Council together and reduce duplicate responsibilities in the political leadership and the common foreign and security policy. However, the proposal of the great Doppelhuts could not prevail in the Constitutional Convention. Instead, the duties of a full-time President of the European Council was created. The Office is not coupled to the President of the Commission; However, the EU Treaty does not exclude explicitly that the Commission President in personal union could also be President, should the European Council so decide. The innovations contained in the Constitutional Treaty were later adopted by the Lisbon Treaty and entered into force in 2009.

References and Notes

• Political System of the European Union