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First EU President to be chosen on November 19, diplomats say
Nov 10, 2009, 11:30 GMT
Brussels - European Union leaders are expected to choose the first president of the 27-member bloc next week, at a summit scheduled for November 19, German Press Agency dpa learned from diplomats in Brussels on Tuesday.
By then, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, who is coordinating the negotiations, plans to have ended consultations with the EU member states - enabling the EU leaders to fill two new high-profile EU posts on November 19.
The EU's Lisbon Treaty, which creates the positions of president and foreign policy chief, is expected to come into force on December 1. National leaders are currently debating who should get the jobs.
According to diplomats in Brussels, the prime ministers of Belgium and the Netherlands, Herman Van Rompuy and Jan Peter Balkenende, are front-runners to claim the post of EU president.
Meanwhile British Premier Gordon Brown denied that his foreign minister, David Miliband, was a candidate for the foreign policy role. Leading contender for this post is believed to be former Italian prime minister Massimo D'Alema.
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