Prime minister Herman Van Rompuy was a virtual unknown outside of Belgium until a few weeks ago, when his name began to do the rounds as a possible candidate for the newly created post of president of the European Council. The diminutive politician-poet with a love of country life is seen by many of his own countrymen as an unsung national hero who has quietly pulled his nation back from the brink of collapse thanks to his adroit political manoeuvrings, a twinkle in his eye and a generous dose of wry humour. The 62-year old is a master of understatement who would be the first to admit he stumbled into high office by accident and says he prizes intelligence over hard work.
The diminutive politician-poet with a love of country life is seen by many of his own countrymen as an unsung national hero who has quietly pulled his nation back from the brink of collapse thanks to his adroit political manoeuvrings, a twinkle in his eye and a generous dose of wry humour.
The 62-year old is a master of understatement who would be the first to admit he stumbled into high office by accident and says he prizes intelligence over hard work.
Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy, a top candidate for the new European Union president job, laid out his views on future EU financing at a dinner of the secretive Bilderberg group last week. The event took place at Val Duchesse, a former priory on the outskirts of Brussels, on Thursday (12 November), with guests including Belgian industrialist and Bilderberg chairman Etienne Davignon, former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger and luminaries from the worlds of international politics and business, according to Belgian broadsheet De Tijd. The Belgian leader is reported to have said in a speech that: "New resources will be necessary for the financing of the welfare state. Green tax instruments are a possibility, but they are ambiguous: This type of tax will eventually be extinguished. But the possibilities of financial levies at European level must be seriously examined and for the first time the large countries in the union are open to that."
The event took place at Val Duchesse, a former priory on the outskirts of Brussels, on Thursday (12 November), with guests including Belgian industrialist and Bilderberg chairman Etienne Davignon, former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger and luminaries from the worlds of international politics and business, according to Belgian broadsheet De Tijd.
The Belgian leader is reported to have said in a speech that: "New resources will be necessary for the financing of the welfare state. Green tax instruments are a possibility, but they are ambiguous: This type of tax will eventually be extinguished. But the possibilities of financial levies at European level must be seriously examined and for the first time the large countries in the union are open to that."
The European Union is struggling to avoid the embarrassment of lacking agreed nominees for the posts of president and foreign policy supremo at a summit on Thursday in which the winning candidates are supposed to be announced.An absence of consensus by Monday on who should be appointed to the foreign policy job was preventing Herman Van Rompuy, Belgium's prime minister, from consolidating his position as favourite to become the first full-time EU president.The two jobs are intended to improve the EU's ability to speak with one voice and project its influence in the world, after its expansion in recent years from a 15-member to a 27-member bloc.According to several EU government ministers and diplomats, the hunt for a foreign policy candidate of the right political and geographical profile has proved harder than rallying support for Mr Van Rompuy.There is even a small risk that Sweden, holder of the EU's rotating presidency, will not have found an answer by the time it opens Thursday's summit - although EU officials say Stockholm's firm goal is to strike a deal beforehand.
An absence of consensus by Monday on who should be appointed to the foreign policy job was preventing Herman Van Rompuy, Belgium's prime minister, from consolidating his position as favourite to become the first full-time EU president.
The two jobs are intended to improve the EU's ability to speak with one voice and project its influence in the world, after its expansion in recent years from a 15-member to a 27-member bloc.
According to several EU government ministers and diplomats, the hunt for a foreign policy candidate of the right political and geographical profile has proved harder than rallying support for Mr Van Rompuy.
There is even a small risk that Sweden, holder of the EU's rotating presidency, will not have found an answer by the time it opens Thursday's summit - although EU officials say Stockholm's firm goal is to strike a deal beforehand.
Bliar seems really out of the race, but the elevation of the president of the European Council into 'EU President' sticked around. Will the UK media learn once van Rompuy has been around for some time? (I presume that he will even manage to not outshine Barroso -- not because he's bad but because he's low-profile.) *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
Above all because the "European Union" can only be struggling, embarrassed, and lacking, now it seems clear Blair will not be appointed president of the European Council.
Did we win? Unless there's a last minute zombie recall from beyond the grave, I think we won.
People didn't expect the Titanic to sink, either.
[afew's Crystal Ball of Doom™ Technology]
This isn't just the end of Blair's hopes, it's the end of Blair's influence. Once Dubya was gone, he lost his most significant patron.
He has no one of equal seriousness to lean on now. What's left of the rabid right will be happy to throw him to the dogs.
I predict another book deal, soon.
Please don't declare victory until a Pres. is put in. Like in the US you might be one real or staged terrorist attack away from reversing things. Now where's the fun in that! - Megatron
Meanwhile in a related development, European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek over the weekend backed former Spanish leader Jose Maria Aznar to take the EU president post. "As far as I know, Aznar is not currently interested in this kind of position. But I think it would be good for the EU if he changed his mind and submitted his candidature," Mr Buzek told Spanish daily ABC in an interview published on Saturday.
Meanwhile in a related development, European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek over the weekend backed former Spanish leader Jose Maria Aznar to take the EU president post.
"As far as I know, Aznar is not currently interested in this kind of position. But I think it would be good for the EU if he changed his mind and submitted his candidature," Mr Buzek told Spanish daily ABC in an interview published on Saturday.
Quick, a petition!
(Well... Buzek did mention Aznar, so anything's possible...)
Would it give immunity from prosecution? *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
When he realised his hopes of being (say) Commission President he attached himself to Bush' elective wars and to Murdoch's media machine instead. En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
From Mrs Margot Wallström, Mrs Diana Wallis and Ms Neelie Kroes. Sir, As the Financial Times has extensively reported, European democracy will face a moment of truth in the coming days. Two important appointments will be made for the European Union - the President of the European Council and the High Representative/Vice President of the European Commission - and once more it is looking more and more likely that only men will be nominated. A new European Commission will also be appointed in the coming weeks. Though President José Manuel Barroso has urged his fellow members of the European Council to keep in mind the importance of gender balance when presenting their candidates, it still looks as if the new Commission will have fewer women than the current one.
Sir, As the Financial Times has extensively reported, European democracy will face a moment of truth in the coming days. Two important appointments will be made for the European Union - the President of the European Council and the High Representative/Vice President of the European Commission - and once more it is looking more and more likely that only men will be nominated.
A new European Commission will also be appointed in the coming weeks. Though President José Manuel Barroso has urged his fellow members of the European Council to keep in mind the importance of gender balance when presenting their candidates, it still looks as if the new Commission will have fewer women than the current one.
For the EU as a whole, the appointment of a politician as ambitious and limelight-hungry as Mr Blair as the first, defining occupant of a role the Lisbon treaty leaves messily unclear would skew the distribution of power between the EU's institutions and the member states. A president whose goal was to stop the traffic in the world's capitals would overshadow Europe's heads of government, create dissension where greater harmony is needed and make co-operation with the high representative and the president of the Commission harder....Britain's most pressing European interests, however, lie elsewhere. The UK is the EU's leading proponent of competitive markets and, in an economic crisis, that cause needs championing....Much of the thinking behind the financial services package, which affects a vital part of Britain's economy, has been at best wrong-headed, at worst intended to damage the City of London. One of its socialist proponents has claimed the City should be satisfied to have "escaped so lightly". Britain's national interest and our common European interest in a pro-growth EU would best be advanced if the UK were to put its efforts into securing a major economic portfolio for the British appointee to the European Commission...
Britain's national interest and our common European interest in a pro-growth EU would best be advanced if the UK were to put its efforts into securing a major economic portfolio for the British appointee to the European Commission...
THIS week's expected nomination of a Belgian or Baltic politician as the first president of the European Union is fuelling excitement in Brussels at the emergence of a force to rival the United States and other world powers. The long-awaited event -- an EU foreign minister should also be named at a summit on Thursday -- is not the only evidence being trumpeted of a continent coming into its own. America may still be the land of plenty, but as a result of the global financial crisis Europe usurped its place as the world's wealthiest region earlier this year, according to a survey of assets. Not only that, but in defiance of predictions of its downfall Europe's population is expected to reach half a billion next year and its GDP is just behind that of the United States and China combined. "Whether or not we end up being the famous counter-weight to America that some of our leaders have dreamt of, Europe is rumbling along quite nicely," said a French official in Paris. It goes against the view of former cold war adversaries who tend to write off Europe as a colossus incapable of exerting an influence on the world stage. A US intelligence assessment recently classed the EU as "a hobbled giant", while a Moscow think tank saw Europe as "weak" compared with the might of Russia.
THIS week's expected nomination of a Belgian or Baltic politician as the first president of the European Union is fuelling excitement in Brussels at the emergence of a force to rival the United States and other world powers.
The long-awaited event -- an EU foreign minister should also be named at a summit on Thursday -- is not the only evidence being trumpeted of a continent coming into its own.
America may still be the land of plenty, but as a result of the global financial crisis Europe usurped its place as the world's wealthiest region earlier this year, according to a survey of assets. Not only that, but in defiance of predictions of its downfall Europe's population is expected to reach half a billion next year and its GDP is just behind that of the United States and China combined.
"Whether or not we end up being the famous counter-weight to America that some of our leaders have dreamt of, Europe is rumbling along quite nicely," said a French official in Paris. It goes against the view of former cold war adversaries who tend to write off Europe as a colossus incapable of exerting an influence on the world stage. A US intelligence assessment recently classed the EU as "a hobbled giant", while a Moscow think tank saw Europe as "weak" compared with the might of Russia.
The new German justice minister says Berlin is not comfortable with an EU measure that would grant US authorities access to European banking data. Now it seems likely that the Germans may scupper the deal, which is supposed to be pushed through at an EU meeting in Brussels at the end of November. The agreement was supposed to be laced up before others got involved in the tricky debate about data protection and individual rights. Now, though, it looks like European Union plans to push through an anti-terror agreement with Washington may not go ahead, thanks in part to the new German government. The Berlin coalition, which pairs Angela Merkel's conservatives with the Free Democrats (FDP), voted into power at the end of September, likely won't rubber stamp a proposal that would give the US wide ranging access to EU bank accounts in the course of terrorism investigations. The measure, proposed by Sweden as current holder of the EU's rotating presidency, was to have passed by Dec. 1. It foresaw allowing US investigators access to European bank accounts -- particularly international transactions -- as part of terror enquiries.
The agreement was supposed to be laced up before others got involved in the tricky debate about data protection and individual rights. Now, though, it looks like European Union plans to push through an anti-terror agreement with Washington may not go ahead, thanks in part to the new German government.
The Berlin coalition, which pairs Angela Merkel's conservatives with the Free Democrats (FDP), voted into power at the end of September, likely won't rubber stamp a proposal that would give the US wide ranging access to EU bank accounts in the course of terrorism investigations. The measure, proposed by Sweden as current holder of the EU's rotating presidency, was to have passed by Dec. 1. It foresaw allowing US investigators access to European bank accounts -- particularly international transactions -- as part of terror enquiries.
An agreement negotiated between the US and the EU on sharing bank data in the context of antiterrorism has just been blocked by Germany, France, Finland and Austria. This shift in German policy signals general political changes that will continue to impact transatlantic relations.
Kosovo's election commission is set to announce the result of the first poll since the country declared independence from Serbia last year. PM Hashim Thaci assured supporters after polls closed on Sunday that his Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) had won 20 of 36 contested municipalities. President Fatmir Sejdiu's Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) said it had won the mayoral race in Pristina.
PM Hashim Thaci assured supporters after polls closed on Sunday that his Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) had won 20 of 36 contested municipalities.
President Fatmir Sejdiu's Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) said it had won the mayoral race in Pristina.
The head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Pavle, has died in Belgrade, the Church has announced. The patriarch, 95, became leader of the Church in 1990. He was admitted to the city's military hospital two years ago. Though he reportedly suffered from heart and lung conditions, the Church did not specify the cause of death. Most of Serbia's population of seven million people are Orthodox Christians. President Boris Tadic said this was "an irredeemable death" for the nation.
The patriarch, 95, became leader of the Church in 1990. He was admitted to the city's military hospital two years ago.
Though he reportedly suffered from heart and lung conditions, the Church did not specify the cause of death.
Most of Serbia's population of seven million people are Orthodox Christians. President Boris Tadic said this was "an irredeemable death" for the nation.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle talks to SPIEGEL about new government plans to tackle the economic crisis, Obama's Afghanistan strategy and his own contribution to German society's acceptance of homosexuality. SPIEGEL: Mr. Westerwelle, if things had turned out slightly differently, we would have been coming to meet you at the Finance Ministry. We always thought that Guido Westerwelle would have to become finance minister, because of his focus on economic issues. And now we're meeting with you here at the Foreign Ministry. How could that happen? Guido Westerwelle: The Free Democratic Party has a long tradition in foreign policy. The periods when the liberals were in charge of foreign policy have always been great ones in our history. SPIEGEL: Perhaps, but you personally were always interested in other issues. Westerwelle: My passion and my commitment to foreign policy may not have been visible to you while we were in the opposition. But both were very much present.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle talks to SPIEGEL about new government plans to tackle the economic crisis, Obama's Afghanistan strategy and his own contribution to German society's acceptance of homosexuality.
SPIEGEL: Mr. Westerwelle, if things had turned out slightly differently, we would have been coming to meet you at the Finance Ministry. We always thought that Guido Westerwelle would have to become finance minister, because of his focus on economic issues. And now we're meeting with you here at the Foreign Ministry. How could that happen?
Guido Westerwelle: The Free Democratic Party has a long tradition in foreign policy. The periods when the liberals were in charge of foreign policy have always been great ones in our history.
SPIEGEL: Perhaps, but you personally were always interested in other issues.
Westerwelle: My passion and my commitment to foreign policy may not have been visible to you while we were in the opposition. But both were very much present.
Westerwelle: Let me respond to that by quoting Winston Churchill:
Pace, Mr. BBC reporter; said W's coacher.
SPIEGEL: You will be driving government debt to a remarkable postwar record with your sensitivity. Westerwelle: Growth-oriented policies don't jeopardize government finances, but makes them healthier. We've had enough of faint-hearted politics. SPIEGEL: And if it goes wrong, our children and grandchildren will be burdened with the mountains of debt you have taken on. That isn't bold, it's irresponsible. Westerwelle: The opposite is true: If we don't emerge from the recession quickly enough, we won't just have problems with government finances. We'll also have social upheaval of the sort that we haven't seen in this country yet. The middle class will collapse, and there will be nothing left but rich and poor.
SPIEGEL: You will be driving government debt to a remarkable postwar record with your sensitivity.
Westerwelle: Growth-oriented policies don't jeopardize government finances, but makes them healthier. We've had enough of faint-hearted politics.
SPIEGEL: And if it goes wrong, our children and grandchildren will be burdened with the mountains of debt you have taken on. That isn't bold, it's irresponsible.
Westerwelle: The opposite is true: If we don't emerge from the recession quickly enough, we won't just have problems with government finances. We'll also have social upheaval of the sort that we haven't seen in this country yet. The middle class will collapse, and there will be nothing left but rich and poor.
Ah, nice: the welfare state will be destroyed if we don't get to destroy the welfare state...
SPIEGEL: Would you care to reveal to us how you intend to pay for your tax cuts? Westerwelle: First, through a consistent growth policy which will lead to more jobs and, as a result, higher tax revenues. And second, by reviewing the feasibility of all spending measures in future budget discussions. SPIEGEL: For example? Westerwelle: Anyone who has ever participated in budget negotiations knows that entire walls of binders have to be combed through to search for individual expenditures. We can't do that in a SPIEGEL interview. SPIEGEL: Well, do you at least have an idea of the sums that will be needed? Westerwelle: Yes, but I'm certainly not going to mention any numbers publicly. The fight against wasteful government spending will be one of the trademarks of the new centrist coalition. We agreed to golden rules on consolidation in the coalition agreement.
SPIEGEL: Would you care to reveal to us how you intend to pay for your tax cuts?
Westerwelle: First, through a consistent growth policy which will lead to more jobs and, as a result, higher tax revenues. And second, by reviewing the feasibility of all spending measures in future budget discussions.
SPIEGEL: For example?
Westerwelle: Anyone who has ever participated in budget negotiations knows that entire walls of binders have to be combed through to search for individual expenditures. We can't do that in a SPIEGEL interview.
SPIEGEL: Well, do you at least have an idea of the sums that will be needed?
Westerwelle: Yes, but I'm certainly not going to mention any numbers publicly. The fight against wasteful government spending will be one of the trademarks of the new centrist coalition. We agreed to golden rules on consolidation in the coalition agreement.
This, of course, is the most important issue, and he keeps tight like an iron wall. Of course he won't mention whose budget he wants to cut, at least until after the Northrhine-Westphalia elections. (With some more cynism: he would surely want to keep his proposals from "my friend Horst" until the last minute, too, to keep the CSU from helping some lobbies to mobilise.) *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
They were the alpha males of German politics, rivals and partners who swaggered their way into government: the former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and his Foreign Minister, Joschka Fischer. Now they are in fierce competition again, trying to outwit each other in the biggest geopolitical game in Europe: the supply of natural gas to the European Union. It is a contest that involves elaborate networks of political friends and a sprinkling of retired spies who have been called in from the cold. But above all it is the saga of two testosterone-driven heavyweights who are going mano a mano. "Since they are not exactly strangers to macho behaviour," says Franziska Augstein, a prominent commentator who has been tracking both politicians, "the obvious question is: who has the longest pipeline?" Mr Schroeder, 65, is chairman of the shareholders' committee of the so-called Nord Stream pipeline, a project steered by the Russian energy giant Gazprom. The pipeline, which is supposed to be onstream by 2012, will carry gas through the Baltic Sea from Vyborg, Russia, to Greifswald, Germany. It bypasses the Baltic states, Poland, Ukraine and Belarus and therefore cuts out their bargaining potential. At the moment Russian gas for Western Europe crosses Ukraine; if Russia switches off the flow to Ukraine as a political punishment or because of unpaid bills, households across the West immediately feel the effects. Moscow thus has to give ground to Kiev. Nord Stream will reverse that position and greatly enhance Russian power in the east of Europe.
They were the alpha males of German politics, rivals and partners who swaggered their way into government: the former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and his Foreign Minister, Joschka Fischer. Now they are in fierce competition again, trying to outwit each other in the biggest geopolitical game in Europe: the supply of natural gas to the European Union.
It is a contest that involves elaborate networks of political friends and a sprinkling of retired spies who have been called in from the cold. But above all it is the saga of two testosterone-driven heavyweights who are going mano a mano. "Since they are not exactly strangers to macho behaviour," says Franziska Augstein, a prominent commentator who has been tracking both politicians, "the obvious question is: who has the longest pipeline?"
Mr Schroeder, 65, is chairman of the shareholders' committee of the so-called Nord Stream pipeline, a project steered by the Russian energy giant Gazprom. The pipeline, which is supposed to be onstream by 2012, will carry gas through the Baltic Sea from Vyborg, Russia, to Greifswald, Germany. It bypasses the Baltic states, Poland, Ukraine and Belarus and therefore cuts out their bargaining potential.
At the moment Russian gas for Western Europe crosses Ukraine; if Russia switches off the flow to Ukraine as a political punishment or because of unpaid bills, households across the West immediately feel the effects. Moscow thus has to give ground to Kiev. Nord Stream will reverse that position and greatly enhance Russian power in the east of Europe.
A government package designed, among other things, to help stop trouble at the COP15 summit by detaining troublemakers, may not have the desired effect as the country's prisons are full up. "There simply is no space for a major influx during the summit. We have neither the cells nor personnel to handle, for example, 500 extra remand cases," Danish Prison Officer Association Kim Østerbye tells Berlingske Tidende.
A government package designed, among other things, to help stop trouble at the COP15 summit by detaining troublemakers, may not have the desired effect as the country's prisons are full up.
"There simply is no space for a major influx during the summit. We have neither the cells nor personnel to handle, for example, 500 extra remand cases," Danish Prison Officer Association Kim Østerbye tells Berlingske Tidende.
