The Final Signature

It is official: more powers will be centralised in Brussels; member states will have less of a right to veto EU laws; and we will have a pesident and foreign minister of Europe. The Treaty of Lisbon has been ratified.

Yesterday, the Czech Republic finally put pen to paper, ratifying the treaty. It marked the end to years of setbacks after setbacks in the campaign to reform the EU.

The EU exists to serve the people of Europe. However, the Lisbon treaty has been nothing short of a democratic nightmare - the electorate did not have a say. When they did, they were ignored until they gave the "correct" answer. David Cameron, who fought for a referendum, has now closed that door, citing that it would be futile now that it was locked in EU law.

Now comes the next question: who will be the President of Europe? But first, the role needs to be defined. They have yet to decide whether it would be a "chairman or chief" position. If the EU wants to pump its political muscle around the world, with easy access to Washington, Moscow and Beijing, Blair is our man. However, it seems that EU leaders, especially France and Germany do not want someone with bigger political clout than them. If this happens, Europe will have missed a vital opportunity.