Van Rompuy, the new face of Europe

(BRUXELLES2) In the end, everything went very quickly. Much faster than anything the reviewers had written before. The dinner of heads of state and government had not yet started and the first information was already falling. The 27 had dubbed the Belgian Prime Minister, Herman van Rompuy, as the first permanent president of the European Summits, for two and a half years. And, more unexpectedly, they named the Briton, the Baroness Catherine Ashton - an unknown on the international scene -, like the first Minister of Foreign Affairs of the EU. One man, one woman: parity was respected.

In fact, everything had been wrapped up a few hours before dinner.. The main European leaders had met at the end of the afternoon in their respective parties: socialists for some, - Christian democrats for others. Then various "bilateral" were organized, informally, between the heads of state and government to settle an agreement. As a result, the 27 had two hours to enjoy, without getting angry, a "forest composition flavored with white truffles" and a line-caught sea bass with grilled scales with sweet spices. Two hours devoted to setting the future rules of the "club" of heads of state and government with the future president.

The Belgian Van Rompuy, who will hold the presidency of the European Council for two and a half years, on the other hand, did not wait long to assert his personality. Both his determination and his humor seduced diplomats and journalists alike. To the question of a journalist: "Who should Obama call now? Pointing to the 4 personalities around the table, he replied "Iwait for his call". At the same time, cautious and honest, he deviated the answer on the accession of Turkey for example explaining that "my opinion does not count. I'm here to foster compromise.".

The man conquers the press room. Nicolas Sarkozy had warned: “ I know him well. You will be surprised. He is one of the strongest personalities at the Council table. » In view of the first performance of the character, this is not false. Europe has a new face. This one is not a movie star. But it is a good representation of what Europe can bring: political sense, respect for values ​​and humour. One could have doubted whether the President of the European Council or the High Representative would be the main face of Europe on the outside, given this first evening, it is undeniably Van Rompuy, the President of the European Council who took it...