EU to pick president at special summit on November 19 (Roundup)

Nov 11, 2009, 7:12 GMT

Brussels - European Union leaders are to hold a special summit to choose the bloc's first-ever full-time president on November 19 in Brussels, the EU's Swedish presidency announced Wednesday.

Sweden currently holds the EU's rotating presidency. But the bloc's Lisbon Treaty, which is expected to come into force on December 1, creates the posts of full-time EU president and of foreign-policy director.

'After an introductory round of consultations with his fellow heads of state and government, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has decided to convene an extra informal summit on 19 November. The meeting will take the form of a working dinner in Brussels,' a presidency email said.

The Lisbon Treaty tasks national leaders with appointing both top officials. EU diplomats said that EU governments have so far formally proposed 'around 10 names' for the job of president, and a similar number for the post of 'EU High Representative,' the foreign-policy head.

'It looks like there will need to be a second round of consultations before the summit,' in order to narrow down the list, an EU diplomatic source told the German Press Agency dpa.

Later on Wednesday, Reinfeldt was due to travel to Brussels to address the European Parliament on issues including the forthcoming summit. As the current holder of the rotating presidency, it is his task to draw up a final shortlist of candidates to present to national leaders.

Under treaty rules, the president and foreign representative are appointed by majority vote at the summit. However, diplomats said that the presidency was likely to try and find consensus candidates, rather than pushing for a potentially divisive vote.

'I count on being able to present a name for each of the positions and that there were will sufficient majority,' Reinfeldt was quoted as telling the Stockholm daily Dagens Nyheter.

'My conversations have indicated that it is important to strike the right balance in the elections of the posts,' Reinfeldt added.

'The left-right is important for many, but also big and small countries, men and women are mentioned,' he said. 'It is not easy to fulfill all these criteria.'

The full list of current nominees is a closely-guarded secret. However, diplomats in Brussels say that the prime ministers of Belgium and the Netherlands, Herman Van Rompuy and Jan Peter Balkenende, are front runners for the job of president.

Italy's former premier Massimo D'Alema is rumoured to be a key candidate for the high representative's post after Britain's David Miliband repeatedly said that he was not a candidate.

However, D'Alema is viewed with some concern in the EU's new member states which once were part of the Warsaw Pact because of his lifelong association with Italy's Communist party.