Brussels, 16/07/2009 (Agence Europe) - The idea of the British government putting Tony Blair forward as candidate for the post of permanent president of the European Council (EUROPE 9943) is “absurd”, the co-presidents of the Greens Group at the European Parliament say. With Tony Blair at the European Council and José Manuel Barroso at the helm of the Commission, the two highest EU representatives would both be “ardent defenders of the war in Iraq”, say Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Rebecca Harms in a press release. They also reproach Mr Blair for his lack of initiative in his current post (special envoy for the Middle East Quartet), his economic liberalism “which prepared the ground for the current financial and economic crisis”, and his veto in 2004 against Guy Verhofstadt's candidature to the Commission presidency. With Mr Blair at the head of the European Council, the EU “would lose ground”, the Greens conclude. (H.B./transl.jl)