Interview: MEP calls for TV debate to choose 'Mr. Europe'[fr][de] 

Alain Lamassoure, a former Europe Minister who is now a close advisor to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said the EU's future two top jobs introduced by the Lisbon Treaty should be chosen from among "the usual suspects". 

These, he said, are people with leadership experience from their own countries as well as experience of the European institutions, especially the EU Council of Ministers. 

Two new permanent positions are to be created under the EU's Lisbon Treaty: the permanent President of the European Council and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The new positions will be introduced once the Treaty is ratified by all 27 member states, including in a crucial referendum to be held in Ireland on 12 June. 

But regardless of whom the new president might be, Lamassoure said he expects no major surprises. He also said he is against the practice of distributing top European jobs behind closed doors or during telephone conversations, as is usually the case when choosing the President of the European Commission, for example. 

This is why Lamassoure will propose a number of procedural steps in his draft Parliament resolution: 

• First, the candidates should declare themselves, if the Lisbon Treaty is ratified by all countries in time, between 15 December 2008 and 15 January 2009. 
• The candidates would then conduct a campaign. 
• The next step is a grilling by the 27 heads of state and government in the presence of TV cameras. Each candidate would have two or three hours to answer questions on how he sees his role and what kind of relations he plans to have with other EU and national players. 

For the post of next President of the European Commission, Lamassoure envisages a different kind of debate. First, the political groups should name their candidate by March 2009, and then the journalists should organise TV debates between them, much in the same way as in national politics before elections. 

Lamassoure said he had not checked the reaction of French President Nicolas Sarkozy to his ideas. He added that he did not expect the heads of state and government would be attracted to the idea, but he expected to push it through with the help of the media and public opinion. 

The French MEP deplored the fact that people who make significant contributions to EU affairs are very little known by the average European citizens. 

Citing José Manuel Barroso (Commission President) and Jean-Claude Juncker (Luxembourg's Prime Minister and Eurogroup chairman), he said for example that these personalities are seldom recognised in France because they almost never appear on TV, despite all of them speaking remarkable French. 

To read a full transcript of the interview, please click here (French only).