The Blair 'shark' or Van Rompuy 'mackerel'?

The Blair 'shark' or Van Rompuy 'mackerel'?

We've spent the day wading through the murky waters of European politics. Leaders from across Europe arrive here in Brussels on Thursday to choose the first ever President of the European Council.

But we really have no idea who they are going to choose. The process has already been described as "secretive" - so much so, the former Latvian President Vaire Vike-Freiberga (herself a candidate) told the Times newspaper that the EU should:

"stop working like the former Soviet Union"

There is much debate about whether to choose a tough, high profile leader in order to affirm Europe's role on the world stage, or alternatively appoint a low key consensus politician from one of the smaller EU states. Both options have their critics. 

The "high profile" leader option is the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. His odds have diminished significantly, but he remains Britain's only candidate for the top job. He is up against the "low key" candidate, the little known Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy. Mr Van Rompuy is a keen blogger and is known for his ability to bring together squabbling political factions, which could be useful if he's leading the EU. You'll notice he likes using his blog to post Haiku poems, like this one:

Water 

Plassen wachten

op warmte om te verdampen.

Water wordt een wolk.

Back to matters at hand, Glyn Ford is a former Member of the European Parliament. He told me today he'd much prefer a Blair "shark" than a "Rompuy mackerel" as President of the European Council. He thinks Europe needs a strong, united voice to balance the power of the United States and China.

"Europe is bigger than the United State, it is richer than the Unites States, it gives more to the developing world the United States by far. But we don't actually have the political presence."

Another EU insider told me that what Europe really needs "is a turtle". Janis Emmanouilidis from the European Policy Centre thinks whoever leads Europe will require a thick outer-shell and nerves of steel, someone willing to take their time and get there slowly without causing too much chaos on the way.

Whichever kind of political animal is chosen for this prestigious post, they'll need plenty of skills to survive in the EU jungle.