New EU post needs definition

BRUSSELS, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- The president of the European Commission says he doesn't want to see a "president of Europe" under the still-to-be-ratified Lisbon Treaty.

EC President Jose Manuel Barroso envisions a less powerful role for the job of president of the European Council than the treaty creates, the EU Observer reported Friday.

"I am sorry, there will not be a president of Europe," Barroso says. "There will be, if we have Lisbon, the president of the European Council."

Because the treaty contains only a loose definition of the post, member states have been left to haggle over how much power it will carry.

An exact job description will be written by the first person holding the job.

Among the most-mentioned candidate for the post is former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Observers say Blair would take the job far beyond the largely administrative role foreseen in the treaty.