European Council President Chosen

So it looks like the European Council didn’t listen to me and decided to choose Mr Herman van Rompuy as ‘El Presidente’. Shame. The Belgian Prime Minister is quite clearly a consummate politician who has managed to stabilise to a certain extent, the long and punctuated divisions which exist in Belgium. Unfortunately though, he seems to have been chosen by the French and German governments because he will play the President-cum-Chair role. However van Rompuy may yet stop traffic in Washington and Beijing. Only time will tell.

So that leaves Tony Blair, the assumed favourite for the job at a loose end. That is not to say that he isn’t engaged in other projects. But having expressed an interest in this role, it is obvious he would like to return to front line politics in the near future. So what next then? How about this for an outside bet? Phil Wilson steps down from his Sedgefield constituency paving the way for a return to British politics for Blair. Together with Gordon Brown, they lead Labour into a fourth term of government. Prime Minister Brown and Chancellor of the Exchequer Blair lead Britain out of recession and into a prolonged period of sustainable growth…

No? I don’t think so either.

No Chance for Blair?

On Thursday, the President of the European Council will be chosen. Most of you probably don’t care. Fair enough, all I will say on that is this. The decision made by the institutions in the European Union, particularly the European Council affect you. So its time you started caring. Common consensus tells us that this job will take one of two forms. He or she will either be a crowd puller or the chair of Council meetings. For what it is worth, I would prefer the former.

This won’t make me popular I suspect. Britain is deeply Eurosceptic. Eurosceptics in this country are worried that the job of President of the European Council would become too big, further eroding the sovereignty and status of nations across Europe. I think this anxiety is misplaced. A powerful President of the European Council would act to reinforce the influence currently yielded by European countries. The role of the nation-state is steadily declining within the context of our international system. The British Prime Minister, French President and German Chancellor no longer have the soft power disposable to the likes of Churchill and co.

A powerful President of the Council would be able to work effectively on behalf of the 27 member states it represents. Nation-states will still have the ability to influence the agenda of the European Council; the President will not be able to act independently of the Council and member states and any attempt to do so will simply undermine his or her authority. So I don’t see what the probably is. Nation-states can still engage in diplomacy independent of the European Council. To suggest that this figurehead would usurp the heads of state across Europe is absurd.

So I hope the President of the European Council is a strong figurehead who has the ability to stop the traffic as Ed Miliband so eloquently put it. Tony Blair? I’m not so sure. Somebody of his ilk? Absolutely. Oh and by the way, I still think we should have a referendum on Lisbon.