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EU presidency begins consultations on new EU posts
Nov 4, 2009, 18:50 GMT
Stockholm - Consultations have started regarding the new post of European Union president, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said Wednesday.
Sweden is current holder of the rotating EU presidency.
The post of a full-time EU president is included in the Lisbon Treaty that is set to enter into force next month after one of the final obstacles was cleared Tuesday when Czech President Vaclav Klaus signed it as the last of the 27 EU members.
'I have begun initial consultations,' Reinfeldt told broadcaster SVT news, adding he would call a special summit once it became clear the talks were making progress.
Reinfeldt declined to mention any name for the post as EU president, saying it would 'emerge on my white sheet of paper.'
The Lisbon reform treaty, which is designed to streamline decision-making, also creates the post of foreign policy chief.
EU leaders have to decide who should fill the posts before the treaty finally comes into force in December.
Analysts have mentioned the prime ministers of the Netherlands, Jan Peter Balkenende, Belgium, Herman van Rompuy, and Luxembourg, Jean-Claude Juncker, as potential candidates for president.
Reinfeldt was due Thursday to travel to India for a EU-India summit that will include talks on how to combat climate change.
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