BACKGROUND: Who's who of possible candidates for EU posts

Nov 18, 2009, 15:24 GMT

   Brussels - The European Union is to hold an extraordinary summit Thursday to select the 27-member bloc's first permanent president and new foreign policy chief.

   Following is a list of names mentioned prominently - but not necessarily as the top favourites - for the two positions being created by the Lisbon Treaty, which comes into force on December 1.

Candidates for Permanent President of the European Council (in alphabetical order):

JAN PETER BALKENENDE, 53, Christian Democratic prime minister of the Netherlands since 2002;

TONY BLAIR, 56, former Labour Party prime minister of Britain;

FELIPE GONZALEZ, 67, a Socialist former prime minister of Spain;

DALIA GRYBAUSKAITE, 53, the party-unaffiliated president of Lithuania and a former EU budget commissioner;

TARJA HALONEN, 65, the Social Democratic president of Finland since 2000;

JEAN-CLAUDE JUNCKER, 54, Luxembourg's Christian Democratic prime minister and head of the Eurogroup of European finance ministers;

PAAVO LIPPONEN, 68, the Social Democrat is a former Finnish prime minister and current president of that country's parliament;

MARY ROBINSON, 65, former Labour Party president of Ireland;

WOLFGANG SCHUESSEL, 64, a former lawyer and Conservative Party chancellor of Austria from 2000 through 2007;

HERMAN VAN ROMPUY, 62, current Christian Democratic prime minister of Belgium;

GUY VERHOFSTADT, 56, a former Belgian prime minister who currently heads the Liberal bloc in the European Parliament;

VAIRA VIKE-FREIBERGA, 71, an unaffiliated former president of Latvia.

Candidates for High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (in alphabetical order):

CATHERINE ASHTON, 53, a member of Britain's Labour Party, she has been the EU's trade commissioner since 2008;

MASSIMO D'ALEMA, 60, is a former Socialist Italian prime minister and foreign minister;

BERNARD KOUCHNER, 70, France's foreign minister and the founder of the international aid agency Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres)

DAVID MILIBAND, 44, the Labour Party member is currently Britain's foreign minister;

MIGUEL ANGEL MORATINOS, 58, is Spain's Socialist foreign minister with seven years prior experience as the EU's special representative for the Mideast peace process;

URSULA PLASSNIK, 53, a Christian Democratic former Austrian foreign minister and ambassador to Switzerland;

OLLI REHN, 47, a Finn, has been EU commissioner for enlargement for five years;

ADRIAN SEVERIN, 55, member of the European Parliament, the Social Democrat is a former Romanian foreign minister.