Belgian PM Van Rompuy named EU prez
Baroness Catherine Ashton appointed bloc’s foreign affairs chief
European Union (EU) leaders named Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy, who is little known outside his own country, as the bloc’s first president on Thursday to lead efforts to make it more influential on the world stage.
They also chose Baroness Catherine Ashton, a Briton little known even in her own country, as EU foreign affairs chief under a deal that kept out more established figures such as Tony Blair, and raised questions about how the bloc plans to lift its profile. The appointments are intended to bolster the EU’s standing and help it to match the rise of emerging powers such as China following the global economic crisis, but neither Ashton nor Van Rompuy is a familiar figure outside Europe.
“I believe my experience will speak for itself. Am I an ego on legs? No I’m not. Do I want to be seen out there saying everything all the time? No I don’t. Judge me on what I do and I think you’ll be pleased with the outcome,” Ashton told reporters. Von Rompuy promised to move “step by step” to help Europe out of “exceptionally difficult times, a period of anxiety, uncertainty and lack of confidence.”
Van Rompuy, 62, and Ashton, 53, are compromise candidates who plan to use quiet diplomacy and consensus. At least initially they will not have the weight in foreign capitals that a better-known figure such as Blair, would have had.
Agreement on the positions took weeks, undermining efforts to present the bloc as a united force, partly because Britain had demanded Blair should be president.
The breakthrough came when Prime Minister Gordon Brown dropped that demand and backed EU Trade Commissioner Ashton as foreign affairs chief and vice-president of the EU’s executive European Commission instead.
The role of president of the council of EU leaders was created under the Lisbon treaty, which takes effect on December 1 and creates a diplomatic corps to be headed by Ashton. She replaces Spaniard Javier Solana.
The White House said Washington had no stronger partner than Europe in advancing security and prosperity around the world. These two new positions, and related changes to take effect on December 1 as a result of the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty, will strengthen the EU and enable it to be an even stronger partner to the US,” it said.
