Brussels, 09/11/2009 (Agence Europe) - On the sidelines of the celebrations marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall (see related article), EU heads of state and government were due to meet on Monday evening 9 November at a - probably decisive - informal dinner to discuss the nomination of two figures to occupy the two new key posts created by the Lisbon Treaty, which will come into force on 1 December (this date is now official since Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer will deliver his country's ratification instrument to Rome on 13 November). If agreement is reached on Monday evening, Swedish Prime Minister and current President of the European Council Fredrik Reinfeldt will have to hastily convene an extraordinary European Council (18 November has been spoken of as a possible date) to formalise the two appointments and finalise the list of candidate commissioners for the Barroso II Commission.
On Monday afternoon, Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy looked ever more the favourite to become the first full-time President of the European Council, although Dutchman Jan Peter Balkenende, Latvian Vaira Vike-Freiberga, Finn Paavo Lipponen and Austrian Wolfgang Schüssel were still being quoted as possible alternatives. Tony Blair, still backed by Gordon Brown, but opposed by several member states, including the three Benelux countries, spent part of the weekend calling European leaders to argue his corner. Van Rompuy's fate will no doubt depend on London which, if Blair fails to be appointed to chair the Council, had had every reason to hope that David Miliband might become the high representative (HR) for foreign affairs and security and Commission vice-president. Miliband, who is currently the UK foreign minister, would appear to have been acceptable to all for this post demanded by European Socialists (a European Socialist Party source told EUROPE on Monday that an “informal agreement” had been reached with the European People's Party on sharing the two posts: the full-time president for the EPP and the HR for the Socialists).
However, in a dramatic development on Sunday 8 November, Miliband informed PES leader Poul Nyrup Rasmussen of his final decision not to stand for the post and to remain in London (no doubt to lead the UK Labour Party into the general election in 2010). British diplomatic sources confirmed the news, stating that Miliband “has always said that he was not available” for this post. The name of Peter Mandelson, the former European trade commissioner and currently business secretary in the UK government was immediately mentioned in the press as a possible British alternative to Miliband. This latter's withdrawal could also be to the benefit of Italian Massimo d'Alema, the preferred choice of a section of the PES (including the leader of the parliamentary group, Martin Schulz). The chances of seeing this former Italian prime minister and foreign minister become head of European foreign affairs are “excellent” if Miliband withdraws from the race, said Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini on Monday. D'Alema's Communist past could, however, pose a problem for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Meanwhile, the Austrian press says that the former Austrian chancellor, Alfred Gusenbauer (a Social Democrat) would be the man for the job. (H.B./transl.rt)