As a former Belgian prime minister, he has big ambitions for the European Council, which became a formal EU institution for the first time under the Lisbon treaty.

作为比利时的前任首相，他对欧盟理事会雄心勃勃。里斯本条约生效后，欧盟理事会第一次成为了正式的欧盟机构。

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Assuming that is right, expect to see a big increase in appeals to the one bit of the European machine where unanimity will remain the rule: the European Council, which gathers together the 27 national leaders of the EU. Under Lisbon the European Council is to gain a semi-permanent president, to replace the system of rotating presidencies.

ECONOMIST: The EU after the Irish vote

The first task may come next week, when European leaders choose candidates for the two top jobs being created by Lisbon: the president of the European Council and a beefed-up high representative for foreign policy.

ECONOMIST: Europe's leadership

The proposal for a citizens' initiative was contained in the Lisbon Treaty and has been the subject of negotiations in recent weeks between the Commission, Council and European Parliament.

BBC: Citizens' initiative debate