I represented whodoicall.eu at the New Statesman New Media Awards last night in London. We were finalists in the Campaigning for Change Award and were beaten to the prize by The Big Green Switch. As you’ll see from the site their effort is rather better resourced than our site is! Plus I think using the web to change people’s behaviour regarding the environment is more en vogue at present than talking about the EU.

So what were the awards like? I felt rather like a familiar outsider there – the shirt-but-no-tie, geeky but creative, brandish a Moo card – environment was one in which I felt relaxed. Yet apart from Sunny, Nosemonkey, John Band and Paulie (fellow UK political bloggers) I knew no-one, and yet it seemed everyone else knew who was going to win as they had all been there and done it before.

Overall it was fun to even be there, and next year we’ll back for an even better shot at it!

It strikes me that the essential reason we embarked on the whole idea of whodoicall.eu was still as valid as ever – the need for the EU to have one figurehead, the head of the executive, and for that person to be democratically accountable. Indeed Brian Cowen, the Irish Prime Minister, has stated that that lack of democratic accountability of the President of the European Council as proposed by the Treaty of Lisbon was one of the main concerns of the Irish people.

So while the means to the end – the Treaty of Lisbon – may be on ice for now, the very idea of One President of the EU is more valid than ever. So in some shape or form whodoicall.eu will continue – I look forward to your comments about how that may be so.

Néerlandais MPE Vert Kathalijne Buitenweg écrit un blog sur whodoicall.eu (en néerlandais uniquement) et à partir de ce lieu étrange machine de traduction, il est clair que Buitenweg d’accord avec bon nombre des points que nous soulevons ici à whodoicall.eu

Pourquoi l’UE ont deux présidents? Que personne ne comprend. Le risque est remarquable que les deux titulaires de fonctions dans des uns et des autres eaux de s’asseoir, parce qu’ils sont à la fois comme président de l’Europe.

Plutôt étrange traduction du néerlandais en disant “de deux ambtsdragers dans elkaars vaarwater gaan zitten”, mais vous est venue l’idée.

Richard Corbett a également lié ici de son blog, mais il n’indique pas explicitement qu’il soutient nos idées… Pourtant nous sommes très heureux pour un lien! Les deux députés sites ont également été ajouté à notre encadré liens.

Wallström fait face à 3 problèmes dans ses efforts pour obtenir une femme dans l’une des trois premières positions. Tout d’abord la liste des candidats possibles n’est pas si longtemps – la plupart des gouvernements nationaux, et en particulier ceux des plus grands États membres 4, restent dominés par les hommes. Merkel est la principale exception à cette règle, mais son gouvernement n’est pas exactement de rupture avec d’autres femmes. Deuxièmement, le débat sur les postes est en cours entre les capitales des pays plutôt que dans manière franche et ouverte – de façon quelle que soit Wallström dit, je ne crains-un est à l’écoute. Troisièmement, Blair (et peut-être aussi Juncker, Rasmussen et Ahern, et Barroso pour la Commission) ont activement fait des signes qu’ils sont intéressés dans les premières positions. Wallström catégoriquement règles elle-même et il n’ya pas de femme encore faire un effort pour obtenir des nouvelles de leur candidature à l’air libre.

Polly Toynbee, écrit en e! Sharp magazine [PDF], estime Wallström, elle-même devrait aller pour …

Wallström faces 3 problems in her efforts to get a woman into one of the top three positions. First of all the list of possible candidates is not that long – most national governments, and especially those of the largest 4 Member States, remain dominated by men. Merkel is the main exception to this, but her government is not exactly bursting with other women. Secondly, the debate about the top jobs is being conducted between national capitals rather than in an open and frank manner – so whatever Wallström says I fear no-one is listening. Thirdly, Blair (and possibly also Juncker, Rasmussen and Ahern, and Barroso for the Commission) have actively been making signs that they are interested in the top positions. Wallström categorically rules herself out and there is no woman as yet making an effort to get news about their candidacy out in the open.

Polly Toynbee, writing in e!Sharp magazine [PDF], thinks Wallström herself should go for it…

Dutch Green MEP Kathalijne Buitenweg writes a detailed blog post about whodoicall.eu (in Dutch only) and from this rather strange machine translation it’s clear that Buitenweg agrees with many of the points we raise here at whodoicall.eu

Why does the EU have two presidents? That nobody understands. The risk is great that the two office-holders in each other’s waters sit down, because they are both as president of Europe.

Somewhat strange translation of the Dutch saying ‘de twee ambtsdragers in elkaars vaarwater gaan zitten’ but you get the idea.

Richard Corbett has also linked here from his blog, although he does not explicitly state that he backs our ideas… Still we’re very glad for a link! Both MEPs’ sites have also now been added to our sidebar links.

Now the eternal front-runner Juncker will finally get what he was going to get right from the start. What remains to be seen is, however, when he will take up his job. Will it alreay be in January or will it be postponed until after the EP elections and in parallel to the start of the new Commission in November 2009?

A number of influential MEPs have already suggested that just one member state might delay the formal ratification (e.g. the German president by postponing his signature) so that the new setting will only be effective for the second half of 2009.