Although this is not a particularly topical issue, I would feel that there should be consideration given to establishing a more clearly defined appointment process for high-level roles within the EU to be availed of in the future.
The Lisbon Treaty saw the introduction of the first non-rotated Presidency of the European Council and also the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. While this development was welcome, strong reservations should have pertained regarding the somewhat opaque appointment process that followed. Such roles ideally should have the clear imprimatur of parliaments yet the impression given was that the appointments were decided upon ‘behind closed doors’. With respect to the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy appointment, it appeared, during the negotiation process, that British nationality almost became a prerequisite for appointment.
A number of changes should prevail. The first is that future appointments should have a clearly defined application process whereby there is a formal and open submission process with a need for minimum nominations, and where it would be realistic for parliaments to submit a set number of names, such as ten each, for consideration. A voting-round procedure whereby parliaments have a choice to decide between differently prepared names could also be introduced.
Secondly, the EU should be very careful to remove the aspect where the nationality of given individuals plays a part in any nomination procedure. Why, for example, should it be considered important in Germany that a German head of the ECB is desirable? If we are to have a fully-functioning and integrated EU, this type of localised political preference should be set aside. The key focus should be that the best qualified person available for all the member states is the appointee to any role. In theory, we could argue that if the best qualified person for the head of the ECB was Irish, he/she would suffer due to nationality given that form of ‘guilt of association’ would prevail with respect to the Irish banking collapse, even if this person had little or no involvement.
Essentially, the EU should disregard its own particular “house rules” regarding high-level appointments and to take into account, to a greater extent, of the considerable ability available within its borders.
