BRUSSELS -- Leaders of the 27 countries of the European Union on Thursday night chose Herman Van Rompuy, the Belgian prime minister, as the European Union's first president, and Catherine Ashton of Britain, currently the bloc's trade commissioner, as its high representative for foreign policy. The vote was unanimous.Both officials are highly respected but little known outside their own countries. After the European Union's eight-year battle to rewrite its internal rules and to pass the Lisbon Treaty that created these two new jobs, the selection of such low-profile figures seemed to highlight Europe's problems instead of its readiness to take a more united and forceful place in world affairs. In a sense, Europe seemed to be living down to expectations. Earlier, the foreign minister of Sweden, Carl Bildt, warned against a "minimalist solution" that would reduce the union's "opportunity to have a clear voice in the world.""It is quite astounding," said Olivier Ferrand, president of Terra Nova, a center-left research institute in France. "It is jaw-dropping. It is the end of ambition for the E.U. -- really disappointing."
Both officials are highly respected but little known outside their own countries. After the European Union's eight-year battle to rewrite its internal rules and to pass the Lisbon Treaty that created these two new jobs, the selection of such low-profile figures seemed to highlight Europe's problems instead of its readiness to take a more united and forceful place in world affairs.
In a sense, Europe seemed to be living down to expectations. Earlier, the foreign minister of Sweden, Carl Bildt, warned against a "minimalist solution" that would reduce the union's "opportunity to have a clear voice in the world."
"It is quite astounding," said Olivier Ferrand, president of Terra Nova, a center-left research institute in France. "It is jaw-dropping. It is the end of ambition for the E.U. -- really disappointing."
BRUSSELS - Champions of European unity hoped their new president would be a continental George Washington, a brand name who could pull the European Union closer together and fulfill their dream of a strengthened role for Europe in world affairs.But after weeks of back-room haggling and private international telephone conversations, the presidents and prime ministers of the 27 EU members yesterday picked a little-known politician, Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy of Belgium, as the union's first permanent president.The choice of a conciliator, rather than a bold leader, for the job suggested the EU was not ready for the dramatic departure advocated by ardent unity advocates, analysts said. As a result, they added, the United States and other EU partners should expect little change in their traditional bilateral dealings with national governments despite Van Rompuy's addition to the vast Euro-bureaucracy in Brussels."Europe is not a country,'' said Nicolas Veron of the Brussels-based Bruegel institute for European and world economic affairs. Notwithstanding lyrical talk of European unity and joint action on the world stage, he added, the continent's elected presidents and prime ministers showed they were not yet prepared to cede significant new powers to an EU figurehead or choose an activist in Brussels likely to vie with national leaders on European policies.
But after weeks of back-room haggling and private international telephone conversations, the presidents and prime ministers of the 27 EU members yesterday picked a little-known politician, Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy of Belgium, as the union's first permanent president.
The choice of a conciliator, rather than a bold leader, for the job suggested the EU was not ready for the dramatic departure advocated by ardent unity advocates, analysts said. As a result, they added, the United States and other EU partners should expect little change in their traditional bilateral dealings with national governments despite Van Rompuy's addition to the vast Euro-bureaucracy in Brussels.
"Europe is not a country,'' said Nicolas Veron of the Brussels-based Bruegel institute for European and world economic affairs. Notwithstanding lyrical talk of European unity and joint action on the world stage, he added, the continent's elected presidents and prime ministers showed they were not yet prepared to cede significant new powers to an EU figurehead or choose an activist in Brussels likely to vie with national leaders on European policies.
