February 8, 2008
We, European citizens of all origins and of all political persuasions,
wish to express our
total opposition to the nomination of Tony Blair to the Presidency of the
European Council.
The Treaty of Lisbon provides for the new post of President of the
European Council, to be
elected by the Council for a mandate, renewable once only, of two and a
half years. Under the
terms of the Treaty: "The President of the European Council shall chair it
and drive forward
its work" and "shall ensure the preparation and continuity of the work of
the European
Council". Further, "The President of the European Council shall, at his
level and in that
capacity, ensure the external representation of the Union on issues
concerning its common
foreign and security policy"¹.
The future President of the European Council will therefore have a key
role in determining the
policies of the European Union and its relations with the rest of the
world. This first Council
Presidency will also have a major symbolic weight for both citizens of the
European Union and
for the image of the Union in the rest of the world. In this perspective,
we believe it is
essential that the first president embodies the spirit and values of the
European project.
For some time now, increasingly insistent news re****ts have made evident a
wish, in some
quarters, to see Tony Blair appointed the first President of the European
Council. This
appointment, were it to take place, would be in total contradiction with
the values professed
by the European project.
In violation of international law, Tony Blair committed his country to a
war in Iraq that a
large majority of European citizens opposed. This war has claimed hundreds
of thousands of
victims and displaced millions of refugees. It has been a major factor in
today's profound
destabilisation of the Middle East, and has weakened world security. In
order to lead his
country into war, Mr Blair made systematic use of fabricated evidence and
the manipulation of
information. His role in the Iraq war would weigh heavily on the image of
the Union in the
world, should he in fact be named its president.
The steps taken by Tony Blair's government, and his complicity with the
Bush administration in
the illegal programme of "extraordinary renditions", have led to an
unprecedented decline in
civil liberties. This is in contradiction with the terms of the European
Convention of Human
Rights, which is an integral part of the treaty.
The European Charter of Fundamental Rights formalises the founding values
of the European
project and is one of the pillars of the new treaty. Tony Blair fought its
inclusion in the
Treaty of Lisbon, and eventually managed to secure an exemption for the
UK.
Rather than move European integration forward, the former British Prime
Minister set a series
of so-called red lines during the Lisbon negotiations², with the intent of
blocking any
progress in social issues and tax harmonisation, as well as common defence
and foreign policy.
Furthermore, it seems unthinkable that the first President of the European
Council should be
the former head of a government that kept its country out of two key
elements of the
construction of Europe: the Schengen area of free movement of people and
the Euro zone.
At a time when one of the priorities of the European institutions is to
reconnect with its
citizens, we believe it is essential that the President of the European
Council should be a
person with whom a majority of citizens can identify, rather than one
rejected by a majority³.
Therefore, we declare our total opposition to this nomination.
1. Treaty of Lisbon, Article 1, point 16, inserting Article 9 B into
the Treaty on European
Union, points 5 and 6 (2007/C 306/17, 18) ?
2. Blair sets out EU treaty demands, BBC, June 2007 ?
3. Table 6 in FT/Harris poll, June 2007 ?
Sign the Petition!
http://www.gopetition.com/online/16745.html
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