Blair most likely WILL be president

marco_polo · 03-10-2009 12:21am

namloc1980 wrote: »

These are the 'powers' from the Lisbon Treaty:

Are they 'considerable'?

Some people do not seem to be aware that this information is freely available

http://www.lisbon-treaty.org/wcm/index.php

CCCP^ · 03-10-2009 12:22am

prinz wrote: »

Did you vote for the current President of the European Council?

Surprisingly not

So do I get to vote for this guy? Apparently Lisbon makes things more democratic right?

Daftendirekt · 03-10-2009 12:22am

Article 15 TEU wrote:

6. The President of the European Council:
(a) shall chair it and drive forward its work;
(b) shall ensure the preparation and continuity of the work of the European Council in cooperation
with the President of the Commission, and on the basis of the work of the General Affairs Council;
(c) shall endeavour to facilitate cohesion and consensus within the European Council;
(d) shall present a report to the European Parliament after each of the meetings of the
European Council.
The President of the European Council shall, at his level and in that capacity, ensure the external
representation of the Union on issues concerning its common foreign and security policy, without
prejudice to the powers of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
The President of the European Council shall not hold a national office.

There you go.

Those are the 'powers' of the President of the European Council.

If Tony Blair is hoping to start WWIII then he's going to be very disappointed.

If he even gets the job.

Edit: Crap, namloc1980 got in there first.

namloc1980 · 03-10-2009 12:29am

Daftendirekt wrote: »

There you go.

Those are the 'powers' of the President of the European Council.

If Tony Blair is hoping to start WWIII then he's going to be very disappointed.

If he even gets the job.

Edit: Crap, namloc1980 got in there first.

(d) shall present a report to the European Parliament after each of the meetings of the
European Council.

Maybe when he's presenting his report to the Parliament he could just make stuff up..."at our last meeting the 27 other lads said I could do whatever I wanted" or "they've appointed me Emperor of the EU Deathstar"

Daftendirekt · 03-10-2009 12:31am

namloc1980 wrote: »

Maybe when he's presenting his report to the Parliament he could just make stuff up..."at our last meeting the 27 other lads said I could do whatever I wanted" or "they've appointed me Emperor of the EU Deathstar"

European Council Deathstar! :mad:

ascanbe · 03-10-2009 12:32am

meglome wrote: »

Firstly there is no fúcking position of President of Europe. Secondly Blair could be elected to the role of President of the European council. But so could twenty other people. And the fúcking sky could fall down. I need a fúcking break.

Reading the discussion on this forum, over the last number of days, i've noted that you, along with a few others, have been doing a sterling job of attempting to ridicule anyone who happens to express an opinion different to your own.
I'm not surprised you need a break.

free-man · 03-10-2009 12:32am

namloc1980 wrote: »

Maybe when he's presenting his report to the Parliament he could just make stuff up..."at our last meeting the 27 other lads said I could do whatever I wanted" or "they've appointed me Emperor of the EU Deathstar"

Funny funny.

But really this guy should never be let near the EU, in any role.

Why hire someone who mislead the world, told lies and won't admit he spearheaded an illegal war. Seriously? Why would you want to hire this guy?

free-man · 03-10-2009 12:33am

Daftendirekt wrote: »

There you go.
Those are the 'powers' of the President of the European Council.

If Tony Blair is hoping to start WWIII then he's going to be very disappointed.

If he even gets the job.

Would you be concerned if he got the job?

Daftendirekt · 03-10-2009 12:34am

ascanbe wrote: »

Reading the discussion on this forum, over the last number of days, i've noted that you, along with a few others, have been doing a sterling job of attempting to ridicule anyone who happens to express an opinion different to your own.
I'm not surprised you need a break.

An opinion is 'The EU is an awful idea.'

A factual inaccuracy is 'Tony Blair will be President of Europe.'

namloc1980 · 03-10-2009 12:35am

free-man wrote: »

Funny funny.

But really this guy should never be let near the EU, in any role.

Why hire someone who mislead the world, told lies and won't admit he spearheaded an illegal war. Seriously? Why would you want to hire this guy?

the reasons you've given are very solid which is why i think the british media is just way too premature in proclaiming him. Blair will need the support of at minimum 15 members states heads of govt. he is controversial and it won't be as clear cut as the media reckon

prinz · 03-10-2009 12:35am

CCCP^ wrote: »

Surprisingly not So do I get to vote for this guy? Apparently Lisbon makes things more democratic right?

Actually it does. The President of the EU Council will be elected from now on, rather than getting the job just because it was his country's 'turn', far more dangerous policy IMO.

Daftendirekt · 03-10-2009 12:35am

free-man wrote: »

Would you be concerned if he got the job?

No. I'm no fan of Blair and his support for GWB, but even if he does get the job, it's still pretty inconsequential.

marco_polo · 03-10-2009 12:40am

free-man wrote: »

Funny funny.

But really this guy should never be let near the EU, in any role.

Why hire someone who mislead the world, told lies and won't admit he spearheaded an illegal war. Seriously? Why would you want to hire this guy?

I would seriously prefer almost any of the 499,999,999 other Europeans to have the job. But currently we have no idea how likely it actually is apart from what appears to be the begining of a campaign in Britsh Media and diplomatic circles, and in the worst case scenario the role pretty much involves chairing a few council meetings, holding discussions with the Presidents of the Commission and the Parliament and smiling in photo ops with Kofi Annan or Mr Obama

namloc1980 · 03-10-2009 12:41am

Daftendirekt wrote: »

No. I'm no fan of Blair and his support for GWB, but even if he does get the job, it's still pretty inconsequential.

Bertie would be good. I think he would be excellent in the role of a chairman of the council. But he's also very controversial. There's probably a whole host of potential candidates from across Europe that we don't know about yet...but i have seen the Luxembourg PM being touted in a few places.

free-man · 03-10-2009 12:41am

Daftendirekt wrote: »

No. I'm no fan of Blair and his support for GWB, but even if he does get the job, it's still pretty inconsequential.

The climbdown begins.

From: It's highly unlikely he'll get the job. Your quoting UK only papers etc
To: If he gets the job its inconsequential.

And now we play the waiting game...

marco_polo · 03-10-2009 12:43am

free-man wrote: »

The climbdown begins.

From: It's highly unlikely he'll get the job. Your quoting UK only papers etc
To: If he gets the job its inconsequential.

And now we play the waiting game...

Seriously?

Have you not bothered reading the last few pages?

namloc1980 · 03-10-2009 12:44am

free-man wrote: »

The climbdown begins.

From: It's highly unlikely he'll get the job. Your quoting UK only papers etc
To: If he gets the job its inconsequential.

And now we play the waiting game...

Both mean pretty much the same

Daftendirekt · 03-10-2009 12:49am

free-man wrote: »

The climbdown begins.

From: It's highly unlikely he'll get the job. Your quoting UK only papers etc
To: If he gets the job its inconsequential.

And now we play the waiting game...

I don't recall saying it's highly unlikely. I think you're confusing me with someone else.

And incidentally, the two statements aren't contradictory.

K-9 · 03-10-2009 1:52am

MarkK wrote: »

Any source for this story which is not the London Times, Telegraph or Sun?

Anybody answer this.

I presume peeople saying this will happen, researched German, French sources?

Yeah?

free-man · 03-10-2009 2:01am

K-9 wrote: »

Anybody answer this.

I presume peeople saying this will happen, researched German, French sources?

Yeah?

Sydney Morning Herald?

Your probably going to tell me now they're only basing it on the UK reports.

I've never known so many papers to report so inaccurately that Blair is favourite for the position.

prinz · 03-10-2009 2:06am

free-man wrote: »

Your probably going to tell me now they're only basing it on the UK reports.

Britain's press have increasingly reported in recent days that Blair is "on the brink" of securing the job, but the ex-prime minister has in the past denied campaigning for the position.

o wait and "unnamed sources" plus the fact that in the first line it admits basing the story on a newspaper.... :pac:

K-9 · 03-10-2009 2:07am

free-man wrote: »

Sydney Morning Herald?

Your probably going to tell me now they're only basing it on the UK reports.

I've never known so many papers to report so inaccurately that Blair is favourite for the position.

I asked for German or French sources.

You know, countries who are actually in the EU.

free-man · 03-10-2009 2:13am

K-9 wrote: »

I asked for German or French sources.

You know, countries who are actually in the EU.

A quote from Le Monde:

You'll have to excuse Google Translate's crude wording:

"The former prime minister could be appointed at the summit on October 29, pursues the British daily, reporting that the French president supports his candidacy and Angela Merkel has softened its position. German Chancellor hitherto opposed to the nomination of Tony Blair because she believed that the function should return the representative of a country adopting the euro. She had agreed to change their position provided that the German representatives to the European Commission dropouts positions in gold."

"But it is forgotten that the nomination of Tony Blair suffers from several defects: launched early in the race, former British prime minister is unpopular in his own socialist family, which criticized its commitment in Iraq alongside George Bush ."

View · 03-10-2009 2:41am

Personally, I believe the story is intended for domestic (UK) consumption. The papers pushing the idea support the Conservatives. Thus, should Blair fail to be chosen, they can all go "Look, isn't Brown useless" or "The EU gangs up on Britain" depending on their editor.

free-man · 03-10-2009 2:42am

View wrote: »

Personally, I believe the story is intended for domestic (UK) consumption. The papers pushing the idea support the Conservatives. Thus, should Blair fail to be chosen, they can all go "Look, isn't Brown useless" or "The EU gangs up on Britain" depending on their editor.

Amazing.

You really don't want to believe he's the favourite do you

Scofflaw · 03-10-2009 2:43am

free-man wrote: »

A quote from Le Monde:

You'll have to excuse Google Translate's crude wording:

"The former prime minister could be appointed at the summit on October 29, pursues the British daily, reporting that the French president supports his candidacy and Angela Merkel has softened its position. German Chancellor hitherto opposed to the nomination of Tony Blair because she believed that the function should return the representative of a country adopting the euro. She had agreed to change their position provided that the German representatives to the European Commission dropouts positions in gold."

"But it is forgotten that the nomination of Tony Blair suffers from several defects: launched early in the race, former British prime minister is unpopular in his own socialist family, which criticized its commitment in Iraq alongside George Bush ."

If there's a bit in that that says "Tony is a shoo-in for the job", I'm not seeing it - I'm seeing that it says he's unpopular in Europe for exactly the same reasons as he's unpopular in this forum.

cordially,
Scofflaw

K-9 · 03-10-2009 2:43am

Free-man, I respect your view on this, but you seem obsessed on it.

I'll be surprised it is Blair.

The EU generally don't go on controversial candidates and Blair is controversial.

Remember the opposition in the EU during Iraq.

Scofflaw · 03-10-2009 2:46am

free-man wrote: »

Amazing.

You really don't want to believe he's the favourite do you

And you really don't want to believe anything else, even though all the non-UK sources you've provided make it quite clear he isn't. The Irish media talked up Bertie in exactly the same way, and I don't think he was ever a serious contender.

amused,
Scofflaw

free-man · 03-10-2009 2:51am

K-9 wrote: »

Free-man, I respect your view on this, but you seem obsessed on it.

I'll be surprised it is Blair.

The EU generally don't go on controversial candidates and Blair is controversial.

Remember the opposition in the EU during Iraq.

I reckon your right, i've said my piece :pac: Hoping your right! Signing off.

ascanbe · 03-10-2009 2:55am

Scofflaw wrote: »

If there's a bit in that that says "Tony is a shoo-in for the job", I'm not seeing it - I'm seeing that it says he's unpopular in Europe for exactly the same reasons as he's unpopular in this forum.

cordially,
Scofflaw

It's not a fact that Tony Blair will become President of the European council.
But is it okay for people to express distaste at the possibility on here without getting mobbed?
Reading the discussion on this forum over the last week or so has been enlightening, due in no small part to the contribution of your good self, but also frustrating; opinions expressed by those advocating a No vote have constantly been jumped upon and sometimes deleted, while opinions such as 'voting Yes is key for the economic recovery of Ireland' have not only been tolerated but endorsed.
I shouldn't be surprised, though; that baseless assertion was a key component of the entire Yes campaign.

Blair most likely WILL be president

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