Barroso to lead us out of desert

“Barroso wants to be EU Moses,” headlinesMladá Fronta DNES. The Prague daily points out that the incumbent president of the European Commission, who has said he aims to “do everything necessary to get out of the crisis”, can count on an endorsement from the EU 27’s heads of state and centre-right MEPs. His re-election bid was blocked back in June by left-of-centre MEPs, however, “to show that Parliament is not the Commission’s puppet and in the hope of finding a strong challenger”. The problem now is the timing of the election, points out the paper, since “nobody knows how the Union will be working come January.” The Treaty of Lisbon could change the rules of the game, depending on how Ireland votes in the 2 October referendum. And their verdict is bound to influence ratification by the Polish and Czech presidents. So the president of the Commission may be elected under the current rules, whereas the commissioners may be appointed according to those of the Treaty. “One thing is for sure: Barroso loves his job,” concludes MF Dnes, hazarding the prediction that “in five years he will very likely still be there.”