Presidents and Electoral Colleges

Last month, the European Union's slow meander towards a unified federation was brought a step closer to reality. President of the European Commission Mr José Manuel Barroso, the head of Europe's executive branch, heralded work done by the European Council and the challenge it presented to doubters of the EU's ability to get the necessary done (BBC, 2012).

As the EU takes these steps, the European Commission and the office of President are only going to become more influential. The office, holders of which have included former Italian Prime Minister Sig. Romano Prodi and British politician Mr Roy Jenkins, has faced some criticism over the indirect way in which the office is appointed - its indirectness insulating it from democracy (Mahoney, 2008).

However the indirect election of heads of state is not rare - the most famous being the Electoral College of the United States that elects the President. Also a similar case is Germany, where its Bundespräsident is elected by a grand convocation of both chambers of the German parliament.

In the US, delegates are appointed by the votes of the presidential election, and they in turn choose the next president. In both Germany and the EU, the delegates are the members of the respective legislatures.



Both the American & German systems have faced problems that call in to question how those offices are elected. Germany has only recently seen the resignation of President Wulff over corruption allegations (Pidd, 2012). And the United States has certainly faced controversy, with accusations that its electoral college is undemocratic - its process, which allows delegates to nominate a president against popular support, has received some criticism (Amar & Amar, 2004). Such problems might suggest that such models are not the best for the EU to emulate - that instead a more direct method of election might be preferable, and increase accountability.

As a means of balancing out and outmatching the often limited powers of these Presidents, there usually sits a body of elected representatives in whom is collectively vested the power to make law. For Europe that body is the European Parliament.

The European Parliament recently demonstrated the power of an effective assembly of elected representatives when it refused to ratify the ACTA Treaty, stopping the establishment of the treaty after massive public outcry across Europe. In doing so it went with public opinion over the will of the 22 member state government who had individually chosen to sign the treaty (RTE, 2012).

However, an alternative body with the power to offer checks and balances is not the same as an organisation that itself is accountable. With thoughts along those lines, steps have already been proposed to make the European Commission more democratic (Mahoney, 2010).

So, along with Germany and the United States, the European Union has an effective means to balance the potential power of its relatively insulated executive office. But as with those other offices, it must be proactive in raising its visibility and increasing its accountability - lest it become mistrusted for the indirect democracy by which it is appointed.

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References:
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+ Helen Pidd's 'German president resigns and could face prosecution in corruption scandal'; 17 February 2012.

+ Honor Mahoney's 'Barroso admits legitimacy problem for commission president post'; at euobserver.com; 28 February 2008.

+ Akhil Reed Amar & Vikram David Amar's 'The Electoral College Votes Against Equality'; September 8 2004.

+ RTE's 'MEPs reject anti-counterfeiting trade agreement'; 5 July 2012.

+ Honor Mahony's 'EP president wants future EU commissioners directly elected'; on euobserver.com; 23 March 2010.