EU President to be selected - please not Blair, PLEASE NOT BLAIR...

[Charles RB]

Soon we'll get to see if the Treaty was the start of the dreaded Federal European Super-State or if it's just some extra bureacracy:

European Union leaders will gather in Brussels later to select their first full-time president and foreign affairs high representative.

The heads of the 27 EU member nations are divided over which candidates to choose, and after-dinner negotiations are expected to last into the night.

Former UK prime minister Tony Blair had been an early favourite for president.

But France and Germany look set to back a less prominent figure, the Belgian Prime Minister Herman van Rompuy.

Germany has denied reports it is openly backing his candidacy, despite comments attributed to its ambassador to Belgium suggesting otherwise.

Reinhard Bettzuege was quoted as telling the Belgian De Morgen newspaper: "The German government is in favour of Prime Minister Van Rompuy, and if his candidacy fails it will not be because of Berlin."

German officials say the diplomat was misquoted, but the newspaper insists its report is accurate.

The EU leaders will dine together on Thursday evening before beginning negotiations.

They are widely expected to strive for a balance in the two posts, with one likely to be filled by a candidate from one of the bigger EU states, the other from a smaller country.

Similarly, the presidency is expected to go to a centre-right politician and the post of foreign affairs chief to the centre-left.

Both jobs were created under the long-stalled Lisbon Treaty, which will come into force on 1 December, and both are meant to give the EU a stronger voice in the world.

The BBC's Europe editor Gavin Hewitt said Mr Blair had been an early front runner for the presidency, but some leaders feared he would overshadow them and so the mood shifted in favour of a lower-profile name instead.

Despite Gordon Brown continuing to argue in favour of his predecessor, the camera-shy Mr van Rompuy, who is not well-known outside his own country, is now widely tipped, our correspondent added.

The EU president will chair regular meetings of the European Council at which decisions are taken about the political position of the bloc.

However, correspondents say the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, as the post is officially known, could have an even more powerful role.

Whoever is chosen will have a seat as vice-president of the European Commission, as well as a budget worth billions of euros and a new diplomatic service of up to 5,000 people.

Mr van Rompuy is seen as a consensus-builder and has been described as a pragmatic rather than a charismatic figure

During his time as budget minister in Belgium's Christian Democrat-led government, he took a tough stance on balancing the economic books, drastically reducing the country's public debt.

Also in the frame to be president are Dutch Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende, former Latvian president Vaira Vike-Freiberga and Luxembourg's Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker.

Mr Blair, meanwhile, has not put himself forward for the role, but has not ruled himself out either.

Currently working as Middle East envoy for the US, UN, EU and Russia, he has been described by Mr Brown as an "excellent candidate".

The UK's Foreign Secretary David Miliband had been tipped as a possible contender for the job of EU foreign affairs chief, but he has said he is not available.

BBC correspondent Oana Lungescu says former Italian prime minister Massimo D'Alema has emerged as one of the favourites for the post.

But his communist past makes him unpopular for many Eastern Europeans, our correspondent says - so several other candidates have been mentioned, including British EU trade commissioner Baroness Ashton and another commissioner, Olli Rehn of Finland.

What the EU Prez will do:

THE PRESIDENT'S ROLE
Chosen by 27 member states by qualified majority vote
Two-and-a-half-year term
Can be re-elected once
Chairs EU summits
Drives forward the work of EU Council of Ministers
Facilitates cohesion and consensus
Represents the EU on the world stage

(Represent the EU on the world stage? That'll be a pain, he'll have to wait for everyone to agree on something first...)

Here's a list of the possible candidates. Rompuy does look good - a track record of reducing debt and resolving conflicts between antagonistic groups is a useful thing to have, and more importantly a name like "Rumpy" is God's gift to political satirists. Balkenende, Gonzalez, and Schuessel look okay too.

[David Wharton]

I have to say that the Van Roumpy name sounds like a randy German officer from 'Allo 'Allo.

[king mob]

It's not going to be Blair. They'll be a war if he's somehow miraculously elected.

[Charles RB]

It's vn Rompuy, and comedians cheered!

[Tobias March]

I liked how quickly the pre-Lisbon unity of the member states immediately collapsed once a collective decision was required.

So we got the anti-Turkish 'federalist', (Labour phrasing).

Well at least it wasn't Blair.

I don't know what Milliband was playing at turning down the foreign EU rep position. Madness. So boy Blair didn't get the nod, he was a prick about it. Don't go crying into your cornflakes and pass up a career making role out of paranoid politicking!?

Ugh. I keep hoping to see the European dream take off.

[Charles RB]

Originally Posted by Tobias March

I liked how quickly the pre-Lisbon unity of the member states immediately collapsed once a collective decision was required.

I dunno about that, they came to a decision pretty quickly.

I don't know what Milliband was playing at turning down the foreign EU rep position. Madness.

Yeah, but to be frank, I'm glad he's not going to be around in the EU after Labour goes down. And the UK's still got someone in the position, so we still get to be smug; Ashton doesn't seem that bad either, so she's a step up from Milibroon.

[Tobias March]

Originally Posted by Charles RB

I dunno about that, they came to a decision pretty quickly.



Yeah, but to be frank, I'm glad he's not going to be around in the EU after Labour goes down. And the UK's still got someone in the position, so we still get to be smug; Ashton doesn't seem that bad either, so she's a step up from Milibroon.

The Brits feel snubbed. Turkey's chances of inclusion have dropped. The smaller states are up in arms that Sarkozy and Merkel essentially are making decisions for them. For a unified Europe, the make-up of the governing body is strikingly Christian Democrat.

I'm just fed up with all this talk of how we must be more pragmatic with regard to Europe and how it will be run, accept that things have to be a certain way.

For all that talk, this kind of 'pragmatism', seems quite limiting.

[Charles RB]

Originally Posted by Tobias March

The Brits feel snubbed.

Feeling snubbed that we got the number two position is moronic. What more do we want?!

[Tobias March]

Originally Posted by Charles RB

Feeling snubbed that we got the number two position is moronic. What more do we want?!

Well.....yes. Exactly.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...k-EU-No-2.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...eans-democracy

God!

And Mary Robinson still should have got the nod, but instead we're stuck with a Centre Right Christian Democrat and an anonymous British technocrat.

[Mick]

I would have been fine with Blair right up until the moment in which he called for a jihad against atheists.

[Tobias March]

Originally Posted by Mick

I would have been fine with Blair right up until the moment in which he called for a jihad against atheists.

Really? What a Cadburys Fruit and Nut Bar.

[king mob]

Originally Posted by Tobias March

And Mary Robinson still should have got the nod, but instead we're stuck with a Centre Right Christian Democrat and an anonymous British technocrat.

If Robinson had been given the nod she'd have made France reply the World Cup qualifier and probably execute Thierry Henry before the match by having him run over by a Renault Clio.

[Tobias March]

Originally Posted by king mob

If Robinson had been given the nod she'd have made France reply the World Cup qualifier and probably execute Thierry Henry before the match by having him run over by a Renault Clio.

No, because she's a rational human being not prepared to use football to gain political capital. Unlike some.

[king mob]

I'm finding the reaction to France's cheating (which it was, but as pointed out everyone does it, and as a Scot who saw his team get to a finals by another handball I can't bloody get on my moral high horse) quite amazing as it's gone beyond a reaction to a handball, and is less about how the authorities have treated Ireland, and is more about attacking the French, while scoring political goals.

Some of the self-rightous anger coming from various English commentators this week has also been amazing in it's utter stupidity.

[Adam C]

Originally Posted by Tobias March

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...eans-democracy

I know little of either of these politicians but Daniel Hannan's reasoning for why this is so undemocratic is beyond vague. I read that entire column and still came away with no idea about how the nomination/appointment process works and why I should look dimly on this.