Europe's forgotten president

摘要

What if the European Parliament elects a new president and nobody notices? That, sadly, may be exactly what happens on January 15th when its members meet in Strasbourg to choose one. In theory, the contest should have all the elements of high political drama: a close contest, the possibility of several ballots, back-stabbing, duplicity. But most ordinary Europeans, if they notice the election at all, will still yawn. The problem is that the European Parliament's president is widely assumed to be the toothless head of a toothless outfit. It says a lot that one of the acclaimed feats of Nicole Fontaine, who has had the job for the past two years, is to have persuaded the European Union's 15 national leaders to let her stand next to them in the group photograph at EU summits. Despite its two grandiose buildings, in Brussels and Strasbourg, the parliament is that rare beast, a legislature that cannot actually initiate legislation. It can merely amend or reject draft legislation sent to it by the European Commission or the Council of Ministers.