Phoning Europe? New EU Heads to Answer Call

At last, Henry Kissinger’s phonebook can have two new entries under E – European Union President Herman Van Rompuy and High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Baroness Catherine Ashton.At last, Henry Kissinger’s phonebook can have two new entries under E – European Union President Herman Van Rompuy and High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Baroness Catherine Ashton.But just because the European Union (EU) now has someone to answer the phone, it doesn’t necessarily mean anyone will call.Many in Europe share this skepticism. These two positions were created under provisions of the recently ratified Treaty of Lisbon and were designed to give Europe a “clearer, stronger voice in the world.” Indeed, the Union could use a stronger voice, one that matches its position as the world’s largest trading bloc. However, the election process has left the EU looking more ineffective than ever.Speculation for the top jobs started soon after the Irish ratified the Lisbon Treaty in October 2009. In the scramble for power, the European Parliament has emerged more powerful than ever. The two pan-European political parties in the European Parliament, the Party of European Socialists and the European People’s Party agreed to divide the positions between them. They were able to have a large influence over the election process by threatening to reject any nominations they considered unfavorable.This politicking is one of the reasons that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair was ruled out for the position of president. Another reason for Blair’s rejection was that a consensus emerged in the European Council that the first president should be a low-profile candidate, preferably from a small EU country. Some of the other candidates considered were Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, Luxembourgeois Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, as well as two Finns, former Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen, and the elderly Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, President Martti Ahtisaari.After weeks of haggling back and forth, the European Council followed their usual round of coalition politics and reached a compromise at a summit on November 19, 2009. Belgian Prime Minister Van Rompuy, the haiku-writing, Christian Democrat leader, who has been in office for less than a year, was elected as the first president of the European Council. EU officials hope that his years in multilingual coalition Belgian governments with fractious partners will serve him in good stead as president.Although, the European Council may have grudgingly elected a president, it moved quickly to limit his powers even before he took office on December 1, 2009. A Swedish-drafted plan, originally designed to exclude any foreign-policy role for the president, redefined the position more as a chairman in charge of setting the agenda for future summits. It was approved almost immediately. This is a clear signal from the European leadership that they do not want to be upstaged by a charismatic man in Brussels.The other choice made by the European Council, to select the former EU Trade Commissioner Baroness Catherine Ashton of the United Kingdom as the new foreign policy chief, was just as obscure. It is hard to understand how someone who has never held elected office or had any diplomatic experience could be made foreign policy chief. Especially, when there were a number of more experienced, center-left candidates, such as former Italian Prime Minister Massimo D’Alema, and Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos.One important reason for Ashton’s selection was that the European Council felt that a woman needed to hold a top EU post. A few on the Council also say that, in many ways, this was to be seen as an encouragement for Britain, which was gunning for one of the top jobs at either the European Council or the European Commission.Although, traditionally aloof in most EU matters, Britain is more open to a joint deployment of diplomatic and military power with the other member states on a case-by-case basis. Besides, this leaves the path clear for France to get an important economic portfolio on the European Commission.The Lisbon Treaty’s purpose was to bestow the EU with the institutions to tackle global challenges and present a strong, confident, united front that would make the world sit up and take notice. The timing for such a message was perfect too, with the summit scheduled for the day after President Barack Obama returned from Asia. Euro-fanatics, watching the rather grandiose coverage of President Obama’s visit to China might have hoped that their leaders would use this position to balance the power of the G2. Instead of showing the world a democratic and transparent process that united Europe, the Europeans opted to show the world broad consensus and broad disappointment.Disclaimer: This article is being used under licensing by creative commons. The original source can be found here: http://bit.ly/5S6lGM.