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Blair émerge comme candidat pour le président de `de l'Europe'
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Par Andrew Grice
Tony Blair a émergé en tant que candidat possible pour le « président de l'Europe », un nouveau poteau créé par le traité approuvé par des chefs de l'UE à leur sommet de Lisbonne.
L'ancien nom du premier ministre a été mis dans l'armature hier par Nicolas Sarkozy, président français, qui a décrit M. Blair en tant que « homme très remarquable - plus l'Européen de toutes les Britanniques. » Il a ajouté : « Penser à lui serait une bonne idée. »
Le traité ferraille le système courant sous lequel un pays tient la présidence tournante de l'UE pendant six mois. Il sera remplacé par la nomination d'un président, qui présidera des réunions de l'UE, conduira par son ordre du jour et servira pendant des années de deux-et-un-moitié.
Gordon Brown said: “Tony Blair would be a great candidate for any significant international job.” He added: “As you know the work that he is doing in the Middle East is something that is of huge international importance.”
But he said it was premature to speculate on who might fill the post because the appointment would not be made until the treaty had been ratified by member states next year.
There remain considerable obstacles to Mr Blair securing the post. Although he is regarded as a heavyweight in EU capitals, he is also remembered as the man who divided Europe by giving George Bush such strong backing for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Some EU diplomats predicted that he would not secure enough support from member states.
Friends doubt that Mr Blair would want the job. The new President would not be as powerful as the title or £200,000-a-year package suggests. He or she would help to shape the EU’s agenda and be seen as the EU’s representative on the world stage. But the key decisions would still be taken by national leaders from member states.
After standing down as Prime Minister in June, Mr Blair became the Middle East peace envoy for the Quartet – the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the EU. Yesterday his spokesman did not rule out him taking up the new EU post but said: “He is focusing on his current role in the Middle East.”
Other potential candidates for the post include Aleksander Kwasniewski, the former Polish president, and Bertie Ahern, the Irish Prime Minister.
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