Leaders | Buggins belongs at the back

When picking leaders, the EU should put skill before box-ticking

Surely Europe can find a better president than Manfred Weber?

SEEN FROM afar, Europe is shrinking and ineffective. In Germany Angela Merkel’s chancellorship is winding down. Domestic woes bedevil the French president, Emmanuel Macron. Britain is leaving the EU, which is divided between east and west, north and south, liberals and authoritarians. The big centre-right and centre-left blocks are struggling, as politics fragments across the continent. If America or China wants to speak to Europe, it is less clear than ever whom they should call.

This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Buggins belongs at the back”

Next to blow: Britain’s constitution

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