Germany calls for EU presidency

The future shape of the EU is a delicate subject

By Janet Barrie in Brussels

Germany has repeated its calls for a directly elected head of the European Commission.

Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer told Belgian MPs in Brussels that an elected president would give Europe a recognisable political figure with real democratic legitimacy.

Mr Fischer first raised the prospect of electing the EU president last May in Berlin.

The call provoked concerns in some countries, including the UK, of a federal Europe with powers concentrated in Brussels.

Definition of powers

Mr Fischer said the institutions of the EU needed to be strengthened if it was to enlarge.

Fischer says Europe can never be a superstate

He added that the European parliament should have a second chamber for MPs from national governments and that the powers of Brussels and the nation states should be more clearly defined.

The German minister said the proposals were part of institutional reforms necessary to enable the EU admit as many as 13 new member states.

Mr Fischer avoided use of the word "federal" and in what seemed an effort to put the record straight, he said Europe could never become a superstate - it was too diverse, he said, and could never be like the United States of America.

The future shape of the EU remains a very delicate subject.

EU leaders must agree on wide-reaching reforms at the Nice summit in just three weeks' time.