BRUSSELS – The appointment of two low-profile figures to the European Union’s top jobs is triggering a storm of criticism on Friday, November 20, for dropping plans to name diplomatic heavyweights. "EU leaders have continued the job of weakening the EU institutions," said Daniel Cohn-Bendit, a leader of the Greens party in the European parliament, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"They have followed their weak choice of commission president with a bland council president and an unremarkable foreign affairs high representative.
“Europe is sinking to a low. The good news is that things can only get better."
EU leaders on Thursday appointed Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy as Europe's first president and British Baroness Catherine Ashton, the EU Trade Commissioner, as the bloc’s foreign minister.
"I accept your decision and I thank you for the honour you have given me," said Van Rompuy, who takes up the post on January 1.
He said he would be a president "with conviction”, promising to move "step by step" to help Europe out of "exceptionally difficult times, a period of anxiety, uncertainty and lack of confidence".
Van Rompuy and Ashton are compromise candidates who plan to use quiet diplomacy and consensus.
"I believe my experience will speak for itself,” said Ashton.
“Judge me on what I do and I think you'll pleased with the outcome," added Ashton, who earned a reputation as an effective negotiator
The two posts were created under the EU's Lisbon treaty which reforms decision-making in a bid to give the 27-nation bloc more credibility in dealing with the likes of the United States and China.
Agreement on the positions took weeks, undermining efforts to present the bloc as a united force.
The breakthrough came when Prime Minister Gordon Brown dropped his backing for former prime minister Tony Blair for the EU’s president post.
Dismay
The European press also blasted the choices, warning that the new picks don’t carry the weight needed to compete on world stage with the US and China.
"Herman Who?" said Sweden's Dagens Nyheter newspaper in an editorial.
"This means that the EU will again have an unknown figure whom few Europeans can identify.”
Spain's El Pais newspaper said the EU will be "led by two dull and low-profile figures."
Germany's Frankfurter Rundschau said the EU will be represented by "leaders with no sparkle, without a vision and even without experience in the required fields."
The British press were also critical of the European selections.
"The choice of two relative unknowns ... dismayed those who wanted to give Europe more clout on the world stage," The Financial Times said.
"More likely the US president and Chinese premier will continue to work with Europe primarily through bilateral talks with Berlin, London, and Paris."
The Guardian agree, saying the appointments dashed "any hope of Europe forcing the pl to pay it fresh attention."
"The continent last night took a step away from the top table, missing a valuable chance to halt the slide towards a G2 world, dominated by the twin poles of Washington and Beijing.
"Nheless, the EU will continue to matter, even as (China's) President Hu (Jintao) sits down with President Who?"
Source: IslamOnline
"They have followed their weak choice of commission president with a bland council president and an unremarkable foreign affairs high representative.
“Europe is sinking to a low. The good news is that things can only get better."
EU leaders on Thursday appointed Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy as Europe's first president and British Baroness Catherine Ashton, the EU Trade Commissioner, as the bloc’s foreign minister.
"I accept your decision and I thank you for the honour you have given me," said Van Rompuy, who takes up the post on January 1.
He said he would be a president "with conviction”, promising to move "step by step" to help Europe out of "exceptionally difficult times, a period of anxiety, uncertainty and lack of confidence".
Van Rompuy and Ashton are compromise candidates who plan to use quiet diplomacy and consensus.
"I believe my experience will speak for itself,” said Ashton.
“Judge me on what I do and I think you'll pleased with the outcome," added Ashton, who earned a reputation as an effective negotiator
The two posts were created under the EU's Lisbon treaty which reforms decision-making in a bid to give the 27-nation bloc more credibility in dealing with the likes of the United States and China.
Agreement on the positions took weeks, undermining efforts to present the bloc as a united force.
The breakthrough came when Prime Minister Gordon Brown dropped his backing for former prime minister Tony Blair for the EU’s president post.
Dismay
The European press also blasted the choices, warning that the new picks don’t carry the weight needed to compete on world stage with the US and China.
"Herman Who?" said Sweden's Dagens Nyheter newspaper in an editorial.
"This means that the EU will again have an unknown figure whom few Europeans can identify.”
Spain's El Pais newspaper said the EU will be "led by two dull and low-profile figures."
Germany's Frankfurter Rundschau said the EU will be represented by "leaders with no sparkle, without a vision and even without experience in the required fields."
The British press were also critical of the European selections.
"The choice of two relative unknowns ... dismayed those who wanted to give Europe more clout on the world stage," The Financial Times said.
"More likely the US president and Chinese premier will continue to work with Europe primarily through bilateral talks with Berlin, London, and Paris."
The Guardian agree, saying the appointments dashed "any hope of Europe forcing the pl to pay it fresh attention."
"The continent last night took a step away from the top table, missing a valuable chance to halt the slide towards a G2 world, dominated by the twin poles of Washington and Beijing.
"Nheless, the EU will continue to matter, even as (China's) President Hu (Jintao) sits down with President Who?"
Source: IslamOnline
| Home | Daily News | We Are On... |
