The European Union now has a president and a foreign minister, but not everyone is impressed with the candidates filling the new roles ... or the process by which they got their jobs.
The US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once famously asked the question "Who do I call if I want to call Europe?" Now, for the very first time we have the answer to that question.
Baroness Cathy Ashton has been appointed Europe’s High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy. In an interview with Aljazeera just moments after being chosen for the position she declared that she is the person Kissinger would call.
Baroness Ashton’s appointment is controversial and so too is the elevation of Belgium’s Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy to the post of European President. Neither has much experience on the world stage, but they now find themselves representing the voices of around half a billion people.
I have written previously about Mr Van Rompuy’s qualifications, but even less is known about the woman charged with increasing Europe’s international political clout. Cathy Ashton has experienced a meteoric rise in her career over the past decade. Only eight years ago she was running the local health authority in Hertfordshire, today she serves as the EU trade commissioner. If she clears the only remaining hurdles she will soon be taking on one of the most complicated diplomatic briefs in the world.
There has been loud criticism of the way in which both the president and foreign policy chief were appointed. The European Commission President Jose Manuel Barosso welcomed the result saying "I think it is impossible to have a better choice", but there will be many who disagree. The whole affair was conducted behind closed doors and the deal was very much a compromise between the centre-right and centre-left blocs of European power. The centre-right chose the President, while the centre-left chose the Foreign Minister.
The former Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga captured the sentiment of many when she said ''I think Europe can do better. I think Europe deserves better and what it really deserves is to be open and democratic.''
