Whispers near the Brandenburg Gate. The 27 must agree on the future head of EU diplomacy

On the sidelines of the ceremonies of the 20^e anniversary of the fall of the wall in Berlin, where most of the heads of state and government of the 27 met yesterday, conversations were going well on the next European appointments. The 27 must indeed agree on the two new faces of Europe: the President of the European Council and the High Representative for Foreign Policy. A couple holds the road, or at least seemed to hold it: Herman Van Rompuy, the discreet Belgian Prime Minister, Christian Democrat, and David Miliband, the spirited British Foreign Minister, Labor. On the first, the task of presiding over European summits; on the second, the task of managing European foreign and defense policy on a daily basis. A team that had the advantage of being balanced, both politically and geographically. With some logic: Entrusting foreign policy to a Briton is the surest way to tie Britain to Europe enthused a European diplomat.

But there is a catch! If the pragmatic Belgians are already working to replace their “irreplaceable” Prime Minister; Miliband does not seem at all inclined to leave the Thames. The promotion in Brussels looks like a first-class funeral for the head of the Foreign Office who is instead aiming to regain the head of government, and Labour, with his sidekick, Lord Mandelson, to try to save Labor from the rout announced by polls. The pressure is, therefore, at this time strong on London to encourage Miliband to reconsider its position. Otherwise the 27 will have to fall back on one of the two declared candidates: the former head of Italian diplomacy, Massimo d'Alema, or his Austrian counterpart, Ursula Plassnik. Consensus seems difficult to obtain. But the Swedish EU presidency would like to get it over with quickly. A summit could thus be convened, in the form of a dinner, next Sunday or the following week. In the meantime, the final ratification of the Lisbon Treaty will have been sealed in wax. The Czech Prime Minister, Jan Fischer, has indeed decided to come in person to Rome on Friday (*) to deposit his country's instrument of ratification, taking advantage of an official visit, planned for a long time, to Vatican.

Nicolas GROS-VERHEYDE.
Published in Ouest-France, November 2009

(*) Italy is since the Treaty of Rome, depositary of all Community Treaties.