Names mentioned

CATHERINE ASHTON, 53, a member of Britain's Labour Party, she has been the EU's trade commissioner since 2008;

MASSIMO D'ALEMA, 60, is a former Socialist Italian prime minister and foreign minister;

BERNARD KOUCHNER, 70, France's foreign minister and the founder of the international aid agency Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres)

DAVID MILIBAND, 44, the Labour Party member is currently Britain's foreign minister;

MIGUEL ANGEL MORATINOS, 58, is Spain's Socialist foreign minister with seven years prior experience as the EU's special representative for the Mideast peace process;

URSULA PLASSNIK, 53, a Christian Democratic former Austrian foreign minister and ambassador to Switzerland;

OLLI REHN, 47, a Finn, has been EU commissioner for enlargement for five years;

ADRIAN SEVERIN, 55, member of the European Parliament, the Social Democrat is a former Romanian foreign minister.

I'd also add Elisabeth Guigou

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