After the ratification of the Lisbon treaty, the search is on for the job of president of the European Council. Rather than endorsing a candidate, I would like to look at the most pressing problems the new president needs to help resolve. That exercise alone might eliminate several of the candidates being discussed.

Three issues should have priority. The first, and most important, priority is fixing the European Union's inadequate system of crisis management. Last year economic crisis management failed at all levels. The European Commission was largely absent after the collapse of Lehman Brothers. This is partly a question of poor leadership and partly the result of the Commission's internal structures.

Largely absent also was the eurogroup of finance ministers, headed by Jean-Claude Juncker, Luxembourg's prime minister and one of the unofficial candidates for the council presidency job. The eurogroup would have been the natural place to co-ordinate fiscal stimulus packages among eurozone member states.