EU President Elect

 

On Thursday of this past week Herman Van Rompuy, Belgium's Prime Minister, became the first President of the European Union. Van Rompuy, largely unknown outside his native Belgium, was named President after a consensus was reached at a meeting of the leaders of the 27-member European Union. Historically, Europe has rung in new leadership with varying levels of pomp and circumstance…from Panzer units rumbling across the Rhineland to what now appears to be some sort of muted office Olympics held behind closed doors in Brussels. Does anyone find this odd, alarming, or maybe just funny?

Most interesting are the words of Van Rompuy himself, “I did not seek this high position, I didn't make any steps to achieve it, but from tonight I take on this task with conviction and enthusiasm."  Huh?  Being idealistic, I tend to believe someone running a first tier continent should, at a minimum, be required to get off the couch to ‘get’ the job.  It would seem that an applicant for the EU Presidency should, at the very least, be required to fill out a long, annoying, online application…or endure a lengthy discussion with the EU HR department regarding past employment history. 

So, this demure Belgian is now the face of, collectively, the largest economy in the world.  In describing his leadership style, Mr. Van Rompuy notes,"As president elect of the council, I will listen carefully to everyone and I will ensure our deliberations turn into results for everyone."  Funny,  my 3rd grade teacher had a similar style and while we were quite happy in our ability to create consensus and share each other's problems, I am not sure we accomplished much...other than a food drive and well received Christmas pageant.  Basically, I remain skeptical of the EU's ability to accomplish much more than the creation of a colorful, nifty looking, currency (noting, the EU originally settled on 'Euro' because members couldn't agree on the choice between Euro-bucks and Francenshillings).

The most wonderful part of Mr. Van Rompuy’s recently acquired job is that it is totally undefined.  The Lisbon Treaty that created this new post was vague in defining its powers and obligations, saying simply that the President should "drive forward" the EU's work.  I too feel qualified to ‘drive forward’ many things and plan to speak to my boss about a revision to my job description.  Of course, this may be an unnecessary endeavor because it is quite possible I will wake up tomorrow morning with a new appointment for a job I did not apply for, seek or otherwise care to obtain.    

The main problem with the Europeans is that they over-sell terms like ‘Union’ and ‘President’.  Let’s face it, the EU is more of an ‘Elks Club’ of sub-to-mid-size GDPs huddling together under a common currency.  I envision that Poland occasionally grows tired of day to day country stresses and lumbers over to Brussels to have a beer with Denmark... seeking marital advice and the occasional dirty joke.  Henry Kissinger once said, “If I want to speak with Europe, who do I call?”.  Mr. Kissinger, you call ‘Grand Poobah Rompuy’ but, please be advised…you are going to need to know the secret handshake and moose-call to make it past the receptionist.

Comments

[slouchy]

Interesting. I wonder how "this demure Belgian" is going to fare.

[Chris]

So, I wonder who's REALLY holding the position... Love your pics and cartoon bubble!

[Blaiser]

Hmmm. What, pray tell, will sprout from this Brussels' brother?

And another thing -- how does Belgium feel about having to share their Head Honcho with the rest of the rabble? I.E. what will be the impact on chocolate quality control? I see this as a lose-lose.

[Kelly]

Nice point, I am now worried about beer production as well...too much for the Belgians to focus on. Maybe they should move to a common currency, common beer, and common chocolate bar?