I would have thought the way to do it would have been to conduct private contacts with the relevant Heads of Government and their key advisers listening carefully to what they want to new President to do.

From the SPIEGEL article, it appears private consultations was the route Bliar went. However, it also appears that he thought lobbying the six biggest member states is enough...

_{*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.}