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EU presidency: Round 1

Though the topic will not be on the agenda at the European Council meeting in Brussels starting 29 October, it’s bound to be on everyone’s mind. Who will be the next face of the EU? The voice that answers on that famed “single telephone number” that Henry Kissinger wanted, in vain, for Europe? The European press are placing their bets.

Published on 29 October 2009 at 17:23
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The contenders are warming up as the crowd waits with baited breath for them to step into the ring. There will doubtless be some high-flying rhetoric against global warming. But a different – and rather less worthy – battle will be fought inside the European Council. The Lisbon Treaty has yet to be ratified, but a list of names for EU President is already secretly making the rounds. Two front runners are now vying to head the ticket: considered odds-on favourite for weeks now, Tony Blair, former UK prime minister and Labour leader, is garnering both praise and denigration. Now Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker has nonchalantly entered the fray: “If I were tapped, I’d have no reason to refuse,” he declared in a long interview in Le Monde.

Do we need a popular, charismatic leader or a moderate negotiator who seeks the middle ground? A heavyweight or a featherweight? Tony Blair and Jean-Claude Juncker embody the alternatives to a T. The Italian daily Il Foglio is thoroughly pro-Blair and makes no bones about its aversion to Juncker, one of the "europygmies" (an epithet coined by The Economist for Blair’s “little” rivals): “The prime minister of a country the size of Ancona is challenging Tony Blair (...) Backed by Old Europe and the Paris-Berlin axis, Juncker represents an outmoded balance of powers and a bureaucratic view of EU relations. In short, he is the precise opposite of Blair. Given his lack of charisma and political ambition, he could never be more than a low-profile leader with a focus on schedules and compromises,” writes the Italian daily.

Balkenende, the watery solution

In the columns of in Le Monde, the Luxembourgian insists, “I’m not a dwarf.” He may be the leader of a small state, but he is no stranger to the corridors of power: “I’m on friendly terms with Vladimir Putin and I’ve known the Chinese leaders for a long time.” “Jean-Claude Juncker’s bid could be interpreted as revenge (on behalf of the Benelux countries) for Britain's blocking of former Belgian PM Guy Verhofstadt's attempt to become President of the European Commission,” remarks El País. “At the time, Blair did everything he could to hinder the Belgian liberal candidate.”

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Another featherweight-category candidate is Jan Peter Balkenende, the Dutch PM. “Gone are the days of the great, inspired European leaders, political vision is no longer in style,” complains a columnist in De Volkskrant. “The majors don’t want any meddlers playing president.(…) Tony Blair has more to fear from candidates who are as bland and dull as Balkenende—or worse boring like Jean-Claude Juncker, or Paavo Lipponen. That said, Herman van Rompuy also seems to excel in the art of drabness, so Balkenende had better be on his guard.”

In a word, concludes Gazeta Wyborcza, Balkenende is so bland that not a single European capital views him as a credible contender. But according to the Polish daily, “That is precisely why Jan Peter Balkenende has a very good shot at nailing the Council presidency.”

Sarkozy to Blair: "You're the man for the job!"

Though he has yet to announce his candidacy and is still keeping his own counsel, there is every reason to believe Tony Blair thinks a lot about the presidency, and not only while shaving. As a matter of fact, it was Nicolas Sarkozy who put the idea to him in 2006, back when Sarkozy was still just interior minister. “You're the man for the job!” he declared. To keep his satisfaction under wraps, Blair shrugged it off with a laugh. “He loved it, just loved it!” one of his aides told Le Monde.

But according to The Irish Times, Blair also has an Irishman to contend with. The last challenger to don his boxing gloves, ex-PM (1994–1997) John Bruton – not famed for excessive charisma either – has just announced his candidacy, reveals the Irish daily.

With all the dark horses and helter-skelter speculation, as Der Spiegel wearily remarks, the post is still up for grabs. “European leaders are wheeling and dealing right and left: in Vienna, in Stockholm offices, at Downing Street dinners, in the little office of Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, and in the lavish chambers of French President Nicolas Sarkozy.” The good old quid pro quo reigns supreme: “You endorse my candidate, I’ll help yours, and together we’ll beat the competition. Candidates who are dangerously smart, too courageous or even too popular are discarded without further ado.” As Matthew Doyle, Tony Blair’s former chief of staff, reminds us in Le Monde: “What’s the point of campaigning when the decision’s going to be made by 27 people behind closed doors?”

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