"Who do I call if I want to call Europe?"

There may now be an answer to Kissinger’s famous question. As of 1 December 2009, the European Union has an official president - Herman Van Rompuy. Although president of the supranational institutions of 27 Member States and 500 million European citizens, you probably have never heard of or seen this man. Conservative Member of the European Parliament, Nigel Farage, offers a brief introduction to Van Rompuy in a striking personal attack.

This man is paid more than Obama, yet nobody knows who he is. How do Van Rompuy’s powers compare to those of the American presidency? First off, there are important distinctions to make. The European Union does have branches of government, like the United States, but there are differences in order to maintain the sovereign federal structure of the EU. The European Parliament serves as the legislative branch, the European Commission serves as the executive branch, and the the Court of Justice of the European Union serves as the judicial branch. There is a fourth branch of power called the European Council, and its members are the 27 heads of state of the Member States of the EU and, now, the permanent President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy. Unlike President Obama who has the power to drive our nation’s policies and serve as Commander in Chief of the armed forces, President Van Rompuy’s role is largely symbolic.

Under Article 9b of the Treaty of Lisbon (the "Constitution of Europe), the President's role and powers are defined as follows:

5. The European Council shall elect its President, by a qualified majority, for a term of two and a half years, renewable once. In the event of an impediment or serious misconduct, the European Council can end the President's term of office in accordance with the same procedure.

6. The President of the European Council:

(a) shall chair it and drive forward its work;

(b) shall ensure the preparation and continuity of the work of the European Council in cooperation with the President of the Commission, and on the basis of the work of the General Affairs Council;

(c) shall endeavour to facilitate cohesion and consensus within the European Council;

(d) shall present a report to the European Parliament after each of the meetings of the European Council.

The President of the European Council shall, at his level and in that capacity, ensure the external representation of the Union on issues concerning its common foreign and security policy, without prejudice to the powers of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

The President of the European Council shall not hold a national office.

In this way, we see that the executive powers are spread out in the European Union, and that the President himself does not have a large degree of power. This raises a valid question. Because Van Rompuy is the symbolic leader of 500 million citizens, is the method by which he was chosen democratic?