BELGIUM: Belgium's Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy says the job of the EU President is all about building consensus

Record ID: 751888

  • Title: BELGIUM: Belgium's Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy says the job of the EU President is all about building consensus
  • Date: 20th November 2009
  • Summary: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (NOVEMBER 19, 2009) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF BELGIAN PARLIAMENT BELGIAN FLAG MEMBERS OF BELGIAN PARLIAMENT IN SESSION BELGIAN PRIME MINISTER HERMAN VAN ROMPUY ADDRESSING PARLIAMENT (SOUNDBITE) (Dutch) BELGIAN PRIME MINISTER HERMAN VAN ROMPUY, ANSWERING QUESTION ABOUT WHAT HE WILL HARVEST TONIGHT, SAYING: ''I don't ask for a harvest because I don't have a stable. I am at your service without any property. But I am proud to lead the team with your words.'' MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT LAUGHING AND APPLAUDING BELGIUM'S MOTTO ''UNION IS POWER'' (French) ON WALL (SOUNDBITE) (French) BELGIAN PRIME MINISTER HERMAN VAN ROMPUY SAYING: ''And the role of the President of the Council is not a role of someone who has a programme. He is someone who seeks a consensus between 27 heads of governments and heads of states. It is not really his own opinion which prevails, it is not his opinion which is important. It is the opinion of the Common Union. And so it is extremely important that it should be someone who seeks consensus.'' MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT APPLAUDING FORMER LATVIAN PRESIDENT VAIRA VIKE-FREIBERGA BEING INTERVIEWED (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER LATVIAN PRESIDENT VAIRA VIKE-FREIBERGA SAYING: ''I myself have expressed concerns about the procedure because it is rushed now for these very important jobs and it does remain opaque so that we have a lot of speculation from obscure diplomatic sources and sometimes giving clearly biased information and so forth. I think that if one is to give information about it then one should do so, if countries have certain positions ahead of time, they should say so openly, candidates, to my mind, should announce themselves and not suffer from false modesty which sits ill on the shoulders of politicians. In other words, I think that there is a match that could be rendered much more open and transparent.'' VIKE-FREIBERGA ON CAMERA SCREEN (SOUNDBITE) (French) FORMER LATVIAN PRESIDENT VAIRA VIKE-FREIBERGA SAYING: ''This is a historic occasion. We are going to have for the first time these two positions giving a face to Europe and they will go down in history, much like Monnet and Schumann (the founders of European integration) went down with their ideas.'' VARIOUS OF BARBED WIRE AND POLICE OUTSIDE EUROPEAN COUNCIL WHERE EU LEADERS WILL BE MEETING EU FLAG EU COUNCIL BUILDING
  • Embargoed: 5th December 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Belgium
  • Country: Belgium
  • Topics: International Relations,European Union
  • Reuters ID: LVABFZCGFM6RRUD6NMWYS4N2G2IS
  • Story Text: Belgium's Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy says the job of the EU President is all about building consensus, while the former Latvian president, Vaira Vike-Freiberga, says the selection process to choose a candidate for the new job should have been more transparent.
    European Union leaders face a difficult summit on Thursday (November 19) to appoint a president and foreign affairs chief, with no sign of a consensus emerging on the powerful posts in last-minute consultations.
    Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy, who is barely known on the world stage, has emerged as a compromise candidate to be the first president of the European Union.
    Although he has been prime minister for less than a year, after coming to power following a banking crisis, Van Rompuy has proved a steady hand running a difficult coalition.
    He is a low-profile leader whose consensus-building skills could suit German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy better than an established world statesman such as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
    He is a discreet character who likes Haiku, a Japanese form of poetry.
    Addressing the Belgian Parliament on Thursday, he quoted verses from a Belgian poet.
    ''I don't ask for a harvest because I don't have a stable. I am at your service without any property. But I am proud to lead the team with your words,'' Van Rompuy said.
    Van Rompuy also took the opportunity to present his vision for the EU president.
    "The role of the President of the Council is not a role of someone who has a programme. He is someone who seeks a consensus between 27 heads of governments and heads of states. It is not really his own opinion which prevails, it is not his opinion which is important. It is the opinion of the Common Union. And so it is extremely important that it should be someone who seeks consensus," Van Rompuy said.
    Former Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga whose name has also appeared on the list of candidates for the job of EU President, said the selection process should have been more transparent ''I myself have expressed concerns about the procedure because it is rushed now for these very important jobs and it does remain opaque," Vike-Freiberga told Reuters.
    ''I think that there is a match that could be rendered much more open and transparent',' she added.
    Called the 'Iron Lady of the East' by some politicians, Vike-Freiberga, 71, steered her former Soviet republic into NATO and the EU as president for two terms between 1999 and 2007.
    She returned to Latvia from Canada after an international academic career as a psychology professor. She has no party affiliation, considers herself a centrist and backed the U.S.-led war on Iraq. Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis says Latvia's economic woes should not count against her.
    Sweden will seek last-minute compromises among the European Union's 27 member states to appoint the president and foreign affairs chief, roles designed to raise the bloc's profile on the world stage.
    After almost two full rounds of consultations with the bloc's leaders, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has yet to find candidates who have unanimous backing for the posts, revealing political and geographical divisions among EU states.
    Reinfeldt, whose country holds the EU presidency, is now hoping heads of state and government will set aside vested interests and agree on names at a summit in Brussels, which is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. (1700 GMT) and last three hours but could go on much longer.
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