Does Europe have too many presidents? The President of the European Council, the President of the European Commission, the President of the European Parliament, the Presidency of the Council of the European Union (that last one held by a country, not an individual). How is Trump supposed to know who to call if he wants to speak to Europe?

If democratic institutions are too confusing for most people to follow, are they still democratic? Would it be better to merge the positions of President of the European Commission (currently held by Jean-Claude Juncker) and the President of the European Council (currently occupied by Donald Tusk) into one post? As Juncker has put it: “Europe would be easier to understand if one captain was steering the ship”

What do our readers think? We had a comment sent in by Marieta, arguing that “Europe needs ONE strong leader with [a] vision”. This quickly provoked a response from Clive, saying: “Um… no. This is precisely what Europe does NOT need. It does not need the EU to use the economic mess (which it caused) as an excuse to grab even more power.”

Should the EU have a single European President? We asked Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from all sides of the political spectrum to stake out their positions on this question, and it’s up to YOU to vote for the policies you favour. See what the different MEPs have to say, then vote at the bottom of this debate for the one you most agree with! Take part in the vote below and tell us who you support in the European Parliament!

Radical Left Marisa Matias (GUE-NGL), Member of the European Parliament:





Social Democrats Jo Leinen (S&D), Member of the European Parliament:





Greens Heidi Hautala (Group of the Greens), Member of the European Parliament:





Liberal Democrats Marian Harkin (ALDE), Member of the European Parliament:





Centre Right Lukas Mandl (EPP), Member of the European Parliament:





Conservatives Anders Vistisen (ECR), Member of the European Parliament: I think the two positions are fundamentally different from each other, and therefore I don’t share the sentiment that it would be better for the European Union’s future development to unite them into one. I think we should go in a different direction, and I think the Commission should go back to being a less political entity and should instead be a more civil service entity, whose primary role is facilitating the political direction given by the Member States and by the European Parliament. Then we can have a President of the European Council that can set the direction on behalf of the leaders of states and governments. I think that would be better for the future of Europe. (ECR), Member of the European Parliament:

Eurosceptics Stuart Agnew (EFDD), Member of the European Parliament: No. This is just a suggestion trying to fine-tune something that shouldn’t be there anyway. (EFDD), Member of the European Parliament:

Curious to know more about the idea of the EU having a single president? We’ve put together some facts and figures in the infographic below (click for a bigger version).

IMAGE CREDITS: CC / Flickr – European Council

With the support of: