Tony Blair out of EU president contest

[Bluewolf]

Blair out of EU president contest

Gordon Brown has accepted that prime minister Tony Blair cannot become the first President of the European Council, Downing Street has said.

Mr Blair had never publicly said he was in the running for the job - despite vocal support from Mr Brown.

European Union leaders are gathering in Brussels to select their first full-time president and foreign affairs high representative.

Mr Brown has backed Labour peer Baroness Ashton for the foreign role.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8369334.stm

With no Blair it will be quite interesting to see who will now get the job.

[Darth Tanner]

bbc

EU leaders have chosen the Belgian Prime Minister, Herman van Rompuy, to be the first permanent European Council President.

The other top job created by the Lisbon Treaty - foreign affairs supremo - has gone to the EU Trade Commissioner, Baroness Catherine Ashton from the UK.

Both are seen as consensual politicians with little foreign policy experience.

Both had unanimous backing from the 27 EU leaders at the summit in Brussels, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said.

Earlier, the UK government said it was no longer pushing for former PM Tony Blair to get the presidency post.

Mr Van Rompuy had crucial French and German support. He has a reputation as a coalition builder, having taken charge of the linguistically divided Belgian government and steered it out of a crisis.

UK shifts stance

A UK government spokesman revealed the dramatic twist in the British position.

The UK persuaded the other six leaders in the socialist group to back the Baroness Ashton, having dropped Tony Blair.

EU leaders met in Brussels to select their first full-time president and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs - new posts created by the Lisbon Treaty, which will come into force on 1 December.

Mock-up of imagined job spec

Wanted: Someone with star quality

Mr Brown praised Mr Van Rompuy as "a consensus builder" who had "brought a period of political stability to his country after months of uncertainty".

"I am particularly pleased that a Briton secured the other position. It gives Britain a powerful voice within the Council and the [EU] Commission. It will ensure that Britain's voice is very loud and clear. It will ensure that Britain remains at the heart of Europe," he said.

Baroness Ashton "is the first woman to hold such a high position in the EU," he added.

Going into the meeting the heads of the 27 EU member nations had various candidates to choose from and after-dinner negotiations were expected to continue late into the night.

Mr Blair had been an early favourite for president and was the highest-profile candidate.

Another contender, Dutch PM Jan-Peter Balkenende, ruled himself out of the contest as the meeting got under way.

Seeking balance

The EU leaders had a working dinner together to negotiate the appointments.

They were reported to be striving for a balance in the two posts, with one filled by a candidate from one of the bigger EU states, the other from a smaller country.

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

Profile: Herman van Rompuy

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

The combination of Mr Van Rompuy and Lady Ashton achieves that balance, the BBC's Jonny Dymond says.

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

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.

The foreign policy chief 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 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.

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

Currently working as Middle East envoy for the US, UN, EU and Russia, he was earlier 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 said he was not available.

The Belgian got it. And some random Baroness from Labour got the foreign office job.

EDIT: Was anyone actually surprised Blair didn't get the job? He's not exactly popular in Europe thanks to Iraq. I am surprised that we got the foreign office position however, perhaps the council threw us a bone to help get some public support for the EU now that we are heading into election time.

[Bounty]

I started a thread about this but it died.

Actually Van Rompuy just might be perfect for the job. His career was winding down so he has no real ambition for power; he's a fiscal genius who understands the nuts and bolts of running an economy; and he's renowned for being capable of making compromises in hopeless situations. Our first president-poet.

[Skgoa]

So I have a President now. I must really be an antisocial nerd to not even notice the campaign and election that shurly has preceded this, seeing as this is supposed to be a democracy and all that... Well, at least China seems to be democratizing nicely right now and once I graduate my skills will be highly valued by them.

[Crown]

So I have a President now. I must really be an antisocial nerd to not even notice the campaign and election that shurly has preceded this, seeing as this is supposed to be a democracy and all that... Well, at least China seems to be democratizing nicely right now and once I graduate my skills will be highly valued by them.

Melodrama much?

You do realise that you already had a president? It just changed every 6 months, and I can guaran-fucking-tee that couldn't vote for 24 out of the 25 eligible for the position.

[Bounty]

seeing as this is supposed to be a democracy and all that...

Your elected officials picked the president. A direct election for what is basically an administrative post with no veto power is hilariously superfluous.

[Siege]

Hehe, I called Van Rompuy in the previous thread weeks ago. It was evident that it wasn't ever going to be Blair, the UK was keeping him 'in the race' for the presidency only so they could drop him in return for having one of their candidates appointed High Representative. So no surprises there, it's European politics as usual. Still, like Bounty I think Van Rompuy is pretty much perfect for the job; he's well qualified and very able, and has certainly demonstrated the ability to keep competing interests from eating each other alive, which'll be useful in post-Lisbon Europe.

[Darth Tanner]

Your elected officials picked the president

Not technically correct, the council members elected him who are in turn appointed by their host government. In case of Brown and the Baroness there was no actual democratic election involved at any stage.

he's a fiscal genius who understands the nuts and bolts of running an economy

I understand he helped get Belgium’s deficit down by a considerable degree but I'm not sure how useful this is going to be in the EU. The EU doesn't have a deficit as it simply gets its money from its members and he is not going to have much influence over national budgets or EU spending plans at the end of the day seeing as he is appointed by the heads of state and has no independent authority.

Now that Lisbon has brought the EU central bank under political control however he may have some power to control the EU financial systems through that.

[wautd]

All I can say is good riddance to Blair. Having a eurosceptic as president would be rather perverse.

[Darth Tanner]

All I can say is good riddance to Blair. Having a eurosceptic as president would be rather perverse.

How is Blair a eurosceptic, he voted for the EU at all times and was prime minister for a long time without even suggesting he wanted to withdraw.

[Skgoa]

So I have a President now. I must really be an antisocial nerd to not even notice the campaign and election that shurly has preceded this, seeing as this is supposed to be a democracy and all that... Well, at least China seems to be democratizing nicely right now and once I graduate my skills will be highly valued by them.

Melodrama much?

You do realise that you already had a president? It just changed every 6 months, and I can guaran-fucking-tee that couldn't vote for 24 out of the 25 eligible for the position.

So? Please show how that changes anything.

[wautd]

All I can say is good riddance to Blair. Having a eurosceptic as president would be rather perverse.

How is Blair a eurosceptic, he voted for the EU at all times and was prime minister for a long time without even suggesting he wanted to withdraw.

Eurosceptic may have been too much of a strong word from me. It was my impression that he mostly pulled on the other side of the rope, but that may be because of Britisch politics in general. Because lets face it, Britain is kind of an outsider in europe (not part of the euro currency and not joined the Schengen treaty to name a few).
Van Rompey is probably the ideal person for this (rather ceremonial) job. His only downside is that he isn't very known on the international level, but lets hope I can make that up with his competence.

Britain still has foreign affairs, which has probably more political power than being actual president. I guess well played by Brown.

[ray245]

Quite a few press orgainsation are saying that Van Rompuy is a bad choice because no one outside Europe would recongise him.

[Crown]

Melodrama much?

You do realise that you already had a president? It just changed every 6 months, and I can guaran-fucking-tee that couldn't vote for 24 out of the 25 eligible for the position.

So? Please show how that changes anything.

Do you understand the definition of the word 'melodrama'?

[Darth Tanner]

Quite a few press orgainsation are saying that Van Rompuy is a bad choice because no one outside Europe would recongise him.

I don't see how that matters too much, the only potential candidate that people would have heard of is Blair and he was a non starter for numerous reasons. Its not like he is a fully functional head of state, he doesn’t need to be a darling on the world stage and the world will have heard of him now. Who had heard of Obama before he became president?

Eurosceptic may have been too much of a strong word from me. It was my impression that he mostly pulled on the other side of the rope, but that may be because of Britisch politics in general. Because lets face it, Britain is kind of an outsider in europe (not part of the euro currency and not joined the Schengen treaty to name a few).

Ironically he is seen as very pro euro inside the UK as he signed off all the EU treaties that came before him and he gave up a chunk of the rebate we get back from the EU. He passed the buck to Brown on the euro currency issue and the Schengen plan would be political suicide in the UK due to the perceived swarms of asylum seekers that France would be sending us with one way euro star tickets.

which has probably more political power than being actual president.

It will be very interesting to see how the position of foreign minister develops, I think it more than likely it will offer very little influence and end up being little more than a ambassador shaking hands as she is not going to have any authority to deal with issues with on behalf of member states. In that regard Blair could have taken the job and experienced no difference from being EU envoy to the middle east. It will be interesting however to see how seriously other countries take her and her office and how she deals with the first foreign policy difference between the UK and the rest of the EU.

[ray245]

Quite a few press orgainsation are saying that Van Rompuy is a bad choice because no one outside Europe would recongise him.

Who had heard of Obama before he became president?

A lot? You do realise that Obama was extremely popular even before he won the election? Most people around the world heard about Obama all the way back in 2007.

[Dahak]

So I have a President now. I must really be an antisocial nerd to not even notice the campaign and election that shurly has preceded this, seeing as this is supposed to be a democracy and all that... Well, at least China seems to be democratizing nicely right now and once I graduate my skills will be highly valued by them.

Then you must abhor your own democracy (if Dresden is correct), since our Chancellorette wasn't elected by the people, but by the members of Parliament. You only voted for a party. Or how about our second chamber, the Bundesrat, which is not elected directly but appointed by the states?
I would suggest you just chill a bit...

[Siege]

Quite a few press orgainsation are saying that Van Rompuy is a bad choice because no one outside Europe would recongise him.

Of all the possible criticism that could be levied against a candidate this is probably the least well thought out. The people he'll need to meet with will know who he is, and so the press taking pictures of him meeting the people he needs to meet with will know who he is. Let's just take it from there.

It will be very interesting to see how the position of foreign minister develops, I think it more than likely it will offer very little influence and end up being little more than a ambassador shaking hands as she is not going to have any authority to deal with issues with on behalf of member states.

At first? Almost certainly. I believe the idea is that as the Union gradually integrates a joint foreign policy directed from Brussels becomes more likely and the High Representative will thus have progressively more to say. But yeah, the position will in all likelihood be mostly ceremonial at first. I think the High Rep will be issueing a lot of droll, mostly harmless statements everyone can agree on (and which as a result will probably matter little).

[Colonel Olrik]

Quite a few press orgainsation are saying that Van Rompuy is a bad choice because no one outside Europe would recongise him.

The position makes the personality. People, including the prime minister of India yes, we'll meet and know him because he's the president of the fucking EU. Not many people had heard of Barroso before he became the EU chancellor, or of Merkel before she got to be leader of Germany. That the American elections are a multinational, multimillion media show it's well known, that democracy or the good rule of the country earn anything with it is very debatable.

[Colonel Olrik]

So I have a President now. I must really be an antisocial nerd to not even notice the campaign and election that shurly has preceded this, seeing as this is supposed to be a democracy and all that... Well, at least China seems to be democratizing nicely right now and once I graduate my skills will be highly valued by them.

Then you must abhor your own democracy (if Dresden is correct), since our Chancellorette wasn't elected by the people, but by the members of Parliament. You only voted for a party. Or how about our second chamber, the Bundesrat, which is not elected directly but appointed by the states?
I would suggest you just chill a bit...

And of course, I'm from the EU, the Schengen space and have been in Munich for 6 years, and still can't vote for the national elections. I don't know why Skgoa thinks that he and his valuable skills will have a say even in a strongly hypothetical, democratic China.

[TC Pilot]

Who had heard of Obama before he became president?

Everyone in the state of Illinois and anyone who watched the 2004 Democratic Convention?

[Skgoa]

Melodrama much?

You do realise that you already had a president? It just changed every 6 months, and I can guaran-fucking-tee that couldn't vote for 24 out of the 25 eligible for the position.

So? Please show how that changes anything.

Do you understand the definition of the word 'melodrama'?

Yes, I do. Could you be so kind to show how your original argument, that the leader of the EU had not been democraticly elected before, has any relevance to the question of wether or not I get to have the oppinon that he should be?

So I have a President now. I must really be an antisocial nerd to not even notice the campaign and election that shurly has preceded this, seeing as this is supposed to be a democracy and all that... Well, at least China seems to be democratizing nicely right now and once I graduate my skills will be highly valued by them.

Then you must abhor your own democracy (if Dresden is correct), since our Chancellorette wasn't elected by the people, but by the members of Parliament. You only voted for a party. Or how about our second chamber, the Bundesrat, which is not elected directly but appointed by the states?
I would suggest you just chill a bit...

Yes, my point exact! I never claimed that I like the current german electoral system, in fact I am a member of a party that is fighting for more (direct) democracy and more civil rights.
But once again: how is that a valid argument? How is this situation improved by the existence of another bad situation?

And of course, I'm from the EU, the Schengen space and have been in Munich for 6 years, and still can't vote for the national elections. I don't know why Skgoa thinks that he and his valuable skills will have a say even in a strongly hypothetical, democratic China.

Blatant strawman. Please show where I claimed that I want elections to include foreign nationals.

[Dahak]

So I have a President now. I must really be an antisocial nerd to not even notice the campaign and election that shurly has preceded this, seeing as this is supposed to be a democracy and all that... Well, at least China seems to be democratizing nicely right now and once I graduate my skills will be highly valued by them.

Then you must abhor your own democracy (if Dresden is correct), since our Chancellorette wasn't elected by the people, but by the members of Parliament. You only voted for a party. Or how about our second chamber, the Bundesrat, which is not elected directly but appointed by the states?
I would suggest you just chill a bit...

Yes, my point exact! I never claimed that I like the current german electoral system, in fact I am a member of a party that is fighting for more (direct) democracy and more civil rights.
But once again: how is that a valid argument? How is this situation improved by the existence of another bad situation?

And direct election is automatically good...why?
There's a reason Germany steered away from that. If you consider the people making the decision to be democratically elected, and they can express their ideas for the country, then I see no reason that this way to come up with the European "President" is any less democratically valid.

[Dahak]

Hng...Double post...

[Thanas]

Skgoa, you do realize that even the USA has a system in which the president is not elected directly, right?