European Tribune - Community, Politics & Progress.

Keep On Stopping Blair!

by afew
Thu Jul 16th, 2009 at 05:41:54 AM EST

The "Blair for EU President" drum is being banged again. Whether this is part of some jockeying strategy designed to increase the UK's bargaining power on other matters or not, it seems that it's time to speak out again:

Tony Blair would be a most unsuitable "President of the European Union";

the Blair candidature encounters strong opposition among EU citizens.

The new President of the European Council, under the Lisbon Treaty, would have very considerable powers allied to the prestige of representing the 27-nation union and its citizens. The post seems necessarily to call for a consensual figure whose past acts have been unambiguously in favour of the core values and the harmonious development of the European Union.

On each of these counts, Tony Blair fails to convince.

He is not consensual, either in terms of the support he might command among EU citizens, or in terms of his international reputation, stained by the invasion of Iraq on false pretences, his recent non-performance as Quartet envoy to the Middle East while apparently performing to his own profit as an international consultant and public speaker.

He has not been unambiguous in his support of core values of the European project: his government in the UK was marked by a major decline in civil liberties and by complicity with the US in the programme of extraordinary renditions, contrary to the European Convention of Human Rights, and he opposed the inclusion in the Lisbon Treaty of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, securing an opt-out for the UK.

Though he speaks of himself as pro-European, Blair's decade as British Prime Minister did not see his country join essential European structures like the Euro and Schengen. And he steadfastly opposed, in the Lisbon negotiations, social and tax harmonisation measures and a common defence and foreign policy. For these reasons alone, a Blair presidency would be incongruous.

And his candidature sparks off strong opposition. If you haven't already done so, join those who have signed our Stop Blair! petition. (See below the logo in the lefthand column for different European language options).

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Keep On Stopping Blair! | 28 comments (28 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Keep On Stopping Blair! (4.00 / 4)

I think it would be helpful to leave a link to the petition on all European sites that have a comment section, maybe even multiple links by different people.

I just left a link of americablog who has a article about Bliars presidential abitions - als with the suggestion to send the link to their European friends.

by Fran (fran at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Jul 16th, 2009 at 06:38:00 AM EST

Re: Keep On Stopping Blair! (4.00 / 3)

European Tribune - Keep On Stopping Blair!

Tony Blair would be a most unsuitable president for the European Union

My diary The bigger picture from February 2008 has some discussion of why:

So, the EU has had a placeholder for a common foreign policy for aboout 15 years now, but the Council can't stop bickering and, since unanimous agreement is required, no actual Common Policy exists to speak of. The CFSP is, then, a confederate foreign policy - foreign policy remains with the Member States and any common policy would be agreed collegiately.
The Second Pillar is, therefore, a Council competence. However, the Commission has long had a (technocratic) Directorate General for external relations. The (political) position of Commisioner for External Relations will be merged with the High Representative for the CFSP and become one of the four top jobs in the European Union. This, IMHO, weakens the Commission by explicitly reducing its foreign relations to Trade relations and taking political issues closer to the council.
Now, Blair as president of the Council would want to usurp these attributions of the HRCFSP. That is what the whole Blair row is all about. A move of foreign relations from the Commission towards the Council, to a position somewhat in the middle of the two. But Blair has hinted that he only wants the job of Council President if he can also take over some of the attributions of the HRCFSP, as well as those of the Commissioner for Trade.
Guardian Unlimited Politics: I'll be president of Europe if you give me the power - Blair (February 2, 2008)
Tony Blair has been holding discussions with some of his oldest allies on how he could mount a campaign later this year to become full-time president of the EU council, the prestigious new job characterised as "president of Europe". Blair, currently the Middle East envoy for the US, Russia, EU and the UN, has told friends he has made no final decision, but is increasingly willing to put himself forward for the job if it comes with real powers to intervene in defence and trade affairs.
(my emphasis) Compare this with the description of the Council President in the Lisbon Treaty Article 1.16) [PDF]
6. The President of the European Council:
(a) shall chair it and drive forward its work;
(b) shall ensure the preparation and continuity of the work of the European Council in cooperation with the President of the Commission, and on the basis of the work of the General Affairs Council;
(c) shall endeavour to facilitate cohesion and consensus within the European Council;
(d) shall present a report to the European Parliament after each of the meetings of the European Council.
The President of the European Council shall, at his level and in that capacity, ensure the external representation of the Union on issues concerning its common foreign and security policy, without prejudice to the powers of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
The President of the European Council shall not hold a national office.'.
(my emphasis)
In connection with this, it may have escaped notice that there is already a person doing the job that the Treaty of Lisbon spells out for the President of the Council. This is not the HRCFSP. The job title is Secretary General of the Council and the holder of the job is the same Javier Solana that is currently HRCFSP.
The role of the General Secretariat of the Council is to provide the intellectual and practical infrastructure for the Council at four levels: working party, Permanent Representatives Committee, Council of Ministers and European Council. It carries out the practical preparation for meetings and drafts reports, notes, minutes and records and prepares draft agendas. It is more particularly at the disposal of the Presidency to assist in its tasks of finding compromise solutions, coordinating work and summing up situations. It provides the continuity in Council proceedings and has custody of Council archives and acts. Its Legal Service is available to give opinions to the Council and its committees. A large number of officials work at translation, typing, reproduction, circulation and handling of documents.
In other words, Blair actually wants to take over both of Javier Solana's current jobs, even though the Treaty of Lisbon explicitly makes them quite distinct.
So, in my mind it is essential that the President of the Council be an unassuming personality, not chosen for their great oratory, media savvy and their ability and willingness to strut the globe representing the EU. That's what the HRCFSP is about, and that will be a separate job. The Council President has to be someone who has the ability to facilitate coalition building within the council and broker agreements. Blair is not the person for this, he has shown that in spades through ten years of experience on the Council as PM, and for six months while he held the rotating presidency. Taking a cue from redstar's latest diary, I'd say that the Council President should be a former Foreign Minister of a mid-sized country. Also note that the Council will be writing the job description this year, before filling the position, and that the Devil is in the details of how the council will define the job of its President.

The peak-to-trough part of the business cycle is an outlier. Carnot would have died laughing.

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Jul 16th, 2009 at 06:57:49 AM EST

Re: Keep On Stopping Blair! (4.00 / 3)

When I wrote the following 18 months ago

So, in my mind it is essential that the President of the Council be an unassuming personality, not chosen for their great oratory, media savvy and their ability and willingness to strut the globe representing the EU. That's what the HRCFSP is about, and that will be a separate job. The Council President has to be someone who has the ability to facilitate coalition building within the council and broker agreements. Blair is not the person for this, he has shown that in spades through ten years of experience on the Council as PM, and for six months while he held the rotating presidency. Taking a cue from redstar's latest diary, I'd say that the Council President should be a former Foreign Minister of a mid-sized country. Also note that the Council will be writing the job description this year, before filling the position, and that the Devil is in the details of how the council will define the job of its President.

I couldn't anticipate that I would be writing the following a bit over a year later:

France's prima donna President has a decidedly negative effect on EU governance at the moment. Not only does he hijack existing initiatives to the greater glory of Sarko only to drop them when the photo-op has been obtained, but he also has fostered a culture where there is a directoire of a few large (and conservative) governments hashing out EU policy with Barroso and then ramming it through the EU Council. Even mid-sized states are not happy.
EurActiv: Big member states 'backing out of EU', warns Hungary FM (27 April 2009 )
Balázs, who is a former EU commissioner, said that large member states were looking to "strengthen" the role of other institutions as alternative decision-making fora.
The foreign minister said Germany had been working "to seize economic institutions and to strengthen the G20" since 2007.
In line with views recently expressed by Belgian Foreign Minister Karel de Gucht (EurActiv 21/04/09), he argued that the aim of such actions was to leave smaller EU member states "behind", with larger members preferring to deal with states that have "similar influence and weight".
and EU increasingly governed by the few, Belgian FM warns (21 April 2009)
With just a year to go until the Belgian EU Presidency, the country's foreign minister denounced the functioning of the Union, which he said is increasingly governed by an "executive board of big countries".
Speaking on Monday (20 April) at the opening of an annual diplomatic conference in Brussels, Karel de Gucht said Belgium would make full use of its presidency in the second half of 2010 to re-establish the EU institutional balance, which he said was in "danger".
"It is absolutely unacceptable that small groups of member states put in danger the normal institutional process," de Gucht said. "Belgium has the duty of trying as quickly as possible to re-establish the institutional balance."

The peak-to-trough part of the business cycle is an outlier. Carnot would have died laughing.

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Jul 16th, 2009 at 07:02:26 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Keep On Stopping Blair! (4.00 / 2)

Can we put together a press release for the major Euro newspapers and TV stations?

Possibly also some of the US channels too. (Getting someone onto Olbermann or Maddow might be unlikely, but it's worth a try.)

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Thu Jul 16th, 2009 at 07:34:23 AM EST

Good idea (none / 0)

Who can volunteer? (No time on my side today)

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

by Jerome a Paris (jeromeguillet@yahoo.fr) on Thu Jul 16th, 2009 at 07:57:24 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Keep On Stopping Blair! (4.00 / 2)

E-mail coming your way.

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Thu Jul 16th, 2009 at 08:48:28 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Nice! (none / 1)

Well done, afew.

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

by Jerome a Paris (jeromeguillet@yahoo.fr) on Thu Jul 16th, 2009 at 07:57:43 AM EST

Re: Keep On Stopping Blair! (none / 1)

I couldn't let "president for the European Union" resp. "President of the European Union" stand -- edit added.

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Thu Jul 16th, 2009 at 08:17:23 AM EST

Re: Keep On Stopping Blair! (none / 0)

Removed for reasons of simplicity. This is not about teaching the provisions of Lisbon, it's about saying why Blair is the wrong candidate.

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Thu Jul 16th, 2009 at 08:40:45 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Keep On Stopping Blair! (none / 1)

Why do you need a misnomer for that? This edit was not about the provisions of Lisbon, but the image we permeate about the job.

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Thu Jul 16th, 2009 at 09:33:34 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Keep On Stopping Blair! (none / 0)

Has anyone hit the various newspapers comments pages? dropped the link into the story?

I'm tired of this backslapping, aint humanity great BS, we're a virus with shoes Bill Hicks

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Thu Jul 16th, 2009 at 09:18:42 AM EST

Re: Keep On Stopping Blair! (none / 1)

This is not a problem, when elections come, people will decide.

Oh... wait... They might call a second election if they don't like the results...

Oh... wait... this is not an elected position.

Nothing that seems to disturb people here.

Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness - Bertrand Russell

by tiagoantao (put_my_login_here <> gmail com) on Thu Jul 16th, 2009 at 09:30:13 AM EST

Re: Keep On Stopping Blair! (4.00 / 2)

Today in the Guardian:

"Ne te courbe que pour aimer..." René Char

by Melanchthon on Thu Jul 16th, 2009 at 11:19:41 AM EST

Re: Keep On Stopping Blair! (none / 0)

Blair is just what the EU needs... LOL

The peak-to-trough part of the business cycle is an outlier. Carnot would have died laughing.

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Jul 16th, 2009 at 11:50:35 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Keep On Stopping Blair! (none / 1)

Can't verify this of course, but apparently in tomorrow's FT George Mitchell, the US Mid-East peace whatever, who is to announce his peace proposal in a few weeks, will have an article anticipating the plan.

Seems to be far more than Big 4 envoy Bliar has done during a far longer tenure.

Skennah Kowa

by Crazy Horse on Thu Jul 16th, 2009 at 12:52:09 PM EST

Re: Keep On Stopping Blair! (none / 1)

Here are the obvious ones:

ulkomaat@iltasanomat.fi
hs.politiikka@hs.fi
il.toimitus@iltalehti.fi

I'll speak to one of my journalist contacts on Monday for more...

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Thu Jul 16th, 2009 at 02:45:56 PM EST

Re: Keep On Stopping Blair! (none / 0)

For Press Contact List?

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Thu Jul 16th, 2009 at 03:36:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Keep On Stopping Blair! (4.00 / 4)

Yes.

The Catch-22 is that it is best to send information directly to a named reporter who has written about the issue before, but such a reporter's spam filter can be tight. But it is slowly changing and reporter's I know have said that they are reading more because they sometimes get some meat and not only the usual regurgitated opinions.

There are also more suggestions from editors about creating 'a dialogue'. I still think that peer to peer viral is more powerful - and Press Releases do not get much attention because there are so many of them, and the ones that come to the fore have money behind them.

As I wrote before, there are numerous categorized free online Press Release Upload sites, and I'll try to get some info at the weekend on which ones are more useful for the Blair Witch Project.

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Thu Jul 16th, 2009 at 04:08:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Keep On Stopping Blair! (none / 1)

Blair Witch Project. Catchy. works for me. Kudos.

Skennah Kowa

by Crazy Horse on Thu Jul 16th, 2009 at 05:11:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Keep On Stopping Blair! (none / 0)

There's a list of free press release sites here, with advice and further advice.

List updated a year ago.

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Fri Jul 17th, 2009 at 02:44:00 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Naked PR (none / 1)

The advice given at the Naked PR site is sound. Thanks.

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Fri Jul 17th, 2009 at 03:47:11 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Some stats for the press release: (none / 1)

Up to July 14 we had 28034 signatures.
We garnered an additional 632 on July 15 alone, and 598 (and counting) on July 16, and this without advertising!
People really must not like the idea of a Blair presidency.

The peak-to-trough part of the business cycle is an outlier. Carnot would have died laughing.

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Jul 16th, 2009 at 05:22:48 PM EST

Re: Some stats for the press release: (4.00 / 2)

'Stop Blair' brings up a lot of referring sites (to Stop Blair.eu). The trick, as ever, in attracting audience on the web, is to come up with the keywords that people enter into search engines, especially when they are pissed off.

A lot of searching is reactive, rather than proactive - thus the keywords have to work when people are excited and emotional, not contemplative.

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Thu Jul 16th, 2009 at 05:29:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Some stats for the press release: (4.00 / 2)

We should get some input from Colman: what are the words people are entering in search engines to reach stopblair.eu? (I presume he is running google analytics on the site?)

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Thu Jul 16th, 2009 at 05:31:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Some stats for the press release: (none / 0)

Up to July 14 we had 28034 signatures.
We garnered an additional 632 on July 15

29324 at the end of July 16, that makes it 658 on July 16.

The peak-to-trough part of the business cycle is an outlier. Carnot would have died laughing.

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Jul 17th, 2009 at 02:37:58 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Keep On Stopping Blair! (none / 0)

Some recent news stories already mention us. Check this out:
The Mole: `Stop Blair' campaign gains traction

Glenys Kinnock has done her old friend Tony Blair no favours by announcing he is ready to stand as President of Europe and has Gordon Brown's backing. The 'Stop Blair' campaign in both Britain and Europe will now move into top gear.

and, in the comments,

Indeed over 500 people have signed up at http://stopblair.eu/ since yesterday afternoon. Tell your freinds - stop this travesty from happening. While you are at it you could sign this one too and press for him to be brought to the Hague http://www.petitiononline.com/BWCF/petition.html

The peak-to-trough part of the business cycle is an outlier. Carnot would have died laughing.

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Jul 16th, 2009 at 06:21:41 PM EST

Re: Keep On Stopping Blair! (none / 0)

Reuters blogs: Blair for EU president? Don't hold your breath (July 15th, 2009)

What do you think of Blair as president of the European Council? And what do you think Britain is up to in announcing his candidacy now?

And, in the comments,

July 15th, 2009
8:50 pm GMT
What a travesty please sign the petition - go to http://stopblair.eu/
- Posted by Erika Salzeck

People are doing our advertising for us!

The peak-to-trough part of the business cycle is an outlier. Carnot would have died laughing.

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Jul 16th, 2009 at 06:28:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Keep On Stopping Blair! (4.00 / 3)

From a link on that page :

We all know Tony needs to get over to Europe, just not in the building these guys are suggesting.

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères

by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Thu Jul 16th, 2009 at 06:40:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Keep On Stopping Blair! | 28 comments (28 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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