The great selling plate

摘要

It is a horse-race in which the declared runners carry such heavy handicaps that it is hard to see any of them winning. The conditions are perfect for an outsider to come up on the inside rail. With only a month to go before European Union leaders are due to pick a new president of the European Commission, to serve for the next five years, the field is almost disconcertingly wide open. The job is critical in European politics. The commission has the sole right to propose EU laws, which now account for half of all new legislation in the 25-member block. It is the guardian of existing EU rules. It initiates actions against members for such offences as illegal state aid, running excessive budget deficits or having filthy beaches. And it is meant to identify the "general European interest". The commission president can thus combine the roles of a visionary, a deal-maker and a disciplinarian.