Thursday, 19 November 2009
The EU is going through an arduous process of determining the candidates for the new posts created under the Lisbon Treaty. The EU leaders are to gather on 19 November in Brussels to decide on the names planned to be nominated as the EU President and High Representative for foreign affairs.
At this point, the current Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy is perceived as one of the leading figures in the competition. He is said to have the backing of France and Germany who have not favored Tony Blair as a candidate for the EU top job.
On the other hand, Van Rompuy is well known for his determined opposition to Turkey’s possible EU membership. The then opposition politician in 2004 had claimed that “Turkey is not a part of Europe and will never be part of Europe”. But more interestingly, Van Rompuy had based his arguments on Turkey’s contracting character with Christian values which he had equaled to European values. The Belgian leader had underlined the importance of Europe’s Christian fundamental values which would be obviously undermined with the accession of Turkey- “a large and Islamic country”.
Although the Belgian officials have confirmed the mentioned speech which was released in Belgian parliament in 2004, they argued that the Prime Minister had expressed his views when he was in opposition side. Regarding this issue, one of the officials said that “Things that are said in opposition, as David Cameron will soon find out, are different from what you find yourself saying when in government."
The Presidency and High Representative elections have been occupying the EU agenda since the removal of Irish and Czech obstacles before the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. New posts envisaged by the Treaty are said to increase the visibility of the Union in the international platform and help to eliminate the contracting many voices which hinder the EU to act efficiently. However, the process is being accused of lacking transparency and promoting over-representation of men in EU’s senior posts.
By Ceren Mutus (JTW)
