Opposing groups try to find consensus on who should take presidential and foreign minister roles ahead of Brussels summit The leaders of Europe's main political tribes conferred in Brussels this afternoon in an attempt to hammer out a last-minute consensus on who should be the top two people running the EU's new Lisbon regime ahead of a crucial Brussels summit. While Christian democratic government...
Herman van Rompuy has been appointed as the first President of the European Council – a new post created with the Treaty of Lisbon. In his first public appearance, he has outlined some of his priorities on the post: Continuity, especially for multiannual dossiers such as the financial perspectives and the Lisbon Strategy; Economic and social agenda; Environmental [...]
Welcome to the new European Empire (or perhaps the Revived Roman Empire as some eschatological proponents believe):- BBC Blair out of race to be EU president EU leaders have chosen the Belgian Prime Minister, Herman van Rompuy, to be the first permanent European Council President, diplomats say. The other top job created by the Lisbon Treaty – foreign affairs [...]
By Alex Smith / @alexsmith1982 I was in a meeting when I heard that Baroness Cathy Aston and Herman Van Rompuy would be High Representative and President of the European Council. My reaction, like many people's, was of confusion turning quickly into concern that the whole saga would recede to eventual irrelevance for the positions which have been the topic of weeks of heated debate and speculation...
Belgium’s Prime Minister, Herman Van Rompuy, has been named the new President of the European Council. Van Rompuy, a Flemish Christian Democrat, said he accepts the job “with enthusiasm and conviction”. This new role may leave the Fleming less time for his other hobbies. As well as his political work, Van Rompuy is known in his own country [...]
Subject to approval by the European Parliament, Labour's Cathy Ashton will be replacing Sweden's Margot Wallstrom as Vice-President of the European Commission, Austria's Benita Ferrero-Waldner as European Commissioner for External Affairs and Spain's Javier Solana as High Representative for the Common Foreign & Security Policy. That was a bit of a surprise- although on Thursday, Daily Telegraph...
"The choice of two low-profile leaders means that there are two immediate political winners from the process. The first is the European commission, under its renominated president José Manuel Barroso, who has emerged as at least the first among equals in the new Brussels lineup ... ". You have to read quite far down the piece, but at least its there, in The Guardian - the first (and...
Ihave written a few things to make clear my disgust with the European Union’s recent “Lisbon treaty” constitutional arrangements—imposed in defiance of the popular will, and directly in the face of several national referenda. My general views on large unaccountable bureaucracies, with the power to overrule elected legislatures, have never been ambiguous. Life is never simple,...
Many reactions to the appointments of Herman van Rompuy as president of the European Council and Catherine Ashton as foreign policy chief have been negative. They deserve a second thought. While the secrecy in which the appointments were made is disappointing, it is understandable that consensus was needed on this occasion; hopefully not next time round. As [...]
Russia is looking to establish a good relationship with the European Union's (EU) new leadership, news agencies quoted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying on Friday. "I am sure that Herman Van Rompuy (President of the European Council) will continue pursuing a line toward developing a strategic partnership with Russia," Lavrov told reporters after talks with his German counterpart Guido...
Representatives of the 27 countries of the European Union chose respected but low-profile leaders Thursday as president of the European Council and chief foreign minister. Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy will become president, while the foreign affairs and security head will be Catherine Ashton, a British baroness who is currently EU trade commissioner. They begin their new duties Jan. 1....
Tony Blair warned Gordon Brown a week ago that his campaign to become the first president of the European Council was doomed after a decisive intervention by the German chancellor Angela Merkel, according to senior Whitehall sources. To the dismay of key ministers, who wanted Brown to push for Britain to take an economic portfolio in the European commission once Blair's hopes were dashed, Brown insisted...
The EU's new foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton smiles as she addresses the media at the European Council building in Brussels, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009. The EU leaders agreed on trade commissioner Catherine Ashton of Britain as the EU's new foreign policy chief and Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy as its president, diplomats said. Newly appointed European Council President-elect Herman Van...
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