European Parliament ‘needs Belgian mediation skills’

Viviane Reding, the EU’s commissioner for justice and fundamental rights, has called for a Belgian-style mediator to be appointed after next year’s EU elections to try to form a Parliament coalition that will back the next president of the European Commission, reports EurActiv. Speaking at the summer reception of the Union of European Federalists (UEF) on Tuesday, Reding said the 2014 elections would mark the start of “a new era” for the European Union as they would be the first to be held under the Lisbon Treaty, which entered into force in 2009. Comparing the EU to a parliamentary democracy, she said the newly elected members of the European Parliament would need a mediator to appoint a new “government” - or European Commission - after the elections.  Reding drew parallels between the formation of the new European Parliament and Belgium's practice of appointing a mediator to seek agreements and coalitions between the different parties, which leads to the election of a prime minister. “Who is going to decide what parties are going to be able to form a coalition in the European Parliament?" Reding asked. “The President of the European Council could be the one,” she answered, referring to Herman Van Rompuy (pictured), the current holder of the post who chairs the EU leader’s summits. In her view, two or three political groups could enter the coalition and back a new Commission president.