Prodi: rotating EU presidency untenable

The President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, has criticised the current system of rotating the European Union's presidency among member countries.

Speaking in an interview with a Swedish newspaper, Dagens Nyheter, Mr Prodi said that changing the EU's political leadership every six months amounted to a form of ineffective political tourism.

He said this was causing huge problems and would be untenable in the long run.

He made no proposals about what kind of system could replace the present one, but correspondents say that in the past, Mr Prodi has advocated strengthening the role of the commission -- the EU's executive arm. In the interview, Mr Prodi also warned against using enlargement as a means of weakening the EU.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service