Congratulations to Nicolas Sarkozy! Although nothing’s official yet, it looks pretty certain that the French president’s fellow European leaders have signed up for his pet project of a "wise men’s committee" to make proposals about what the European Union should look like, and what it should be doing, 20 to 30 years from now. Formal approval for the project is expected at an EU summit in December.

It would be easy to deride the committee, assuming it gets the green light, as yet another case of a dozen European paperclips in search of a document. But the mood in Brussels is rather upbeat at the moment, following the deal on the EU’s institutional reform treaty in Lisbon. So let’s ask ourselves the most fascinating question of all. Who will serve on Sarkozy’s committee?

I’m hearing four names so far. Jacques Delors, the former European Commission president, is one. Another is Jean Pisani-Ferry, a prominent French economist with some interesting ideas about how to reform the European Central Bank. Then there’s Sir Nicholas Stern, the British professor whose report on climate change won global attention last year. Finally, there’s Jorma Ollila of Finland, the chairman of Nokia.

As wise men go, that’s not a bad start. But of course, everything depends on the definition of the committee’s mandate. Precisely what will they be asked to do? That is yet to be sorted out. And for how long will they be applying their collective wisdom? Until well after the June 2009 European Parliament elections, it seems.

The final question is how to strike the right balance on the committee between politicians and non-political experts, northern Europeans and southerners, people from "old" EU member-states and new ones, and - last but not least - men and women.

Sarkozy says the committee should have 10 to 12 members. Anyone care to propose some names?

October 28, 2007 1:12pm in EU | Comment