EU member states have begun preliminary talks on some of the most political aspects of the bloc’s new treaty – the office set-up for the proposed new full-time president, the shape of the diplomatic service and the power-sharing arrangement for the regular ministerial meetings in Brussels.
With the European Commission due to present the first draft of the 2009 budget later this month, EU ambassadors last week discussed a possible salary, number of staff and perks for the EU president – a job created by the new treaty which is supposed to come into force on 1 January next year.
Characterising the talks as “very abstract and very general”, an EU diplomat said that there appeared to be general agreement that that the president of the council – whose job description has yet to be defined – will get the same sort of treatment as the president of the European Commission.
This would mean a salary of around €270,000, a chauffeured car, a housing allowance and a personal staff of around 20.
What the EU president will actually do remains unclear.
The post may be purely administrative such as chairing EU leader meetings or could evolve into a much more high-profile and powerful role – a true face of the European Union.
But speculation that the new president may get a special residence and a presidential jet was dismissed by several officials as being too “symbolic”, whatever the job description.
