Europe elects Herman Van What? and Baroness Who?

The Mole: Why there’ll be no YouGov poll asking awkward questions about the high rep

LAST UPDATED 7:05 AM, NOVEMBER 20, 2009

So the decision as to who should be the EU's first President and its High Representative was apparently taken over a dinner of wild mushrooms, spiced sea bass and chocolate fondant. If only the result had been half as tasty.

Instead we have the sort of Euro-compromise that leaves anyone not 100 per committed European utterly unmoved: a Belgian called Herman van Rompuy as president and a Brit called Baroness Ashton as high rep. Otherwise known across Europe this morning as Van What? and Baroness Who?

The Mole can tell you very little about Van Rompuy other than that he is the Dutch-speaking prime minister of Belgium - you don't get more European than that - who favours more Nato troops being sent to Afghanistan and has called for EU-wide taxes on financial transactions as a way of controlling the bankers.

As for the Baroness, all the Mole can tell you is that you won't be seeing a YouGov poll anywhere this week asking the British public whether she is the right person for the job. Why? Because Lady Ashton is the wife of Peter Kellner, who the Mole does know because he's a former journalist who's done very well for himself as the pollster who started YouGov.

So there we have it. Tony Blair didn't get the job because he was too high minded, refusing to put his name forward because he wanted to be asked, and David Miliband refused to go for the high rep job because he thinks he still has a chance of being PM.

Lady Ashton, who had no speech prepared, and has never held an elected position in her life, has apparently been "quietly effective" since stepping into Peter Mandelson's old job as EU Trade Commissioner when he suddenly returned to Westminster politics last year. "That's the style with which I will continue," she said last night.

The one person who apparently wins from the appointment of two non-entities is Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the EU commission. Until last night, he was the EU's best-known senior figure. This morning, he still is.

One thing no one appears to have mentioned is that Van Rompuy is supposed to be the prime minister of Belgium. What happens now? Do they call a general election? Do they not bother? Who knows.

LAST UPDATED 7:05 AM, NOVEMBER 20, 2009

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Wrong. There is lots to cheer about here. First, that NATO warmongering scumbag Javier Solana is no longer in office. Secondly, a British war criminal's path to high office in the EU was blocked by people who realise that he'll be on the stand in the Hague pretty soon. And thirdly, an AIPAC-funded neocon Zionist weasel was prevented from becoming the EU's Foreign Minister - because when the report into toture at Guantanamo comes out, his name's going to be plastered all over it. Three cheers to the EU for keeping *SCUM* out!!

Posted by Neil McGowan at 8:11am on November 20, 2009

How on earth can one comment about two nonentities being "chosen" NOT elected, to offices the purpose of which has not been defined, let alone clearly defined? Well, I suppose it gives more rubbish bins for political commentators to put their snouts in and waffle.

Posted by alan scott at 10:24am on November 20, 2009

When can we have democracy in the EU? Its credibility, or what there is of it, is constantly being erroded by appointing people to top political jobs without public assent. Who 'appoints' anyway? The unelected.

Posted by Daniel Pallant at 10:42am on November 20, 2009

My first felling is of relief that T.Blair did not get it!!! The second one is that we should just dump the EU. Apologies to those who disagree, but that is my personal opinion and I would like to keep a personal opinion, if only the EU allows it, of course.

Posted by polly at 12:28pm on November 20, 2009

I love to watch the soi-disant democrats get hot and bothered about people being 'elected' and 'accountable'. These are wholly laudable aims, who can disagree? But in my humble opinion, even elected officials aren't all that impressive at delivering accountability, honesty or even efficiency. Look at your local councils, at Westminster, Paris, Rome (ha!) or any other democratic institution: they are manifestly no better than the individual people carrying out the functions. Look at the British MPs' expenses scandal - need I say more? We didn't find out about abuse of expenses because they were elected or accountable; we found out because someone leaked a story to the Daily Telegraph, followed by numerous further leaks. Or Jacques Chirac's illegal and non-existent jobs-for-the-boys scandal. Did his being elected as president stop his nefarious activities? Certainly not. No politician anywhere in the world welcomes the public knowing all the details of the job: but our systems require transparency. The new EU posts must, above all, operate with transparency and bring strong sanctions to bear in the event of professional shortcomings or misdemeanours. That is what's important, not whether they were elected. And their skill and effectiveness is also key - though these are not issues anyone seems much exercised about. Why not? Are we solely concerned about issues like representatives being elected, rather than about jobs being well done? Let's also remember the EU's politicial style is about seeking concensus rather than grandstanding or making up policy on the hoof. Its new representatives reflect a serious, perhaps even sober, rather than a charismatic approach to politics. This may lack excitement: but how can one speak on behalf of almost 30 countries ... with anything other than a sense of balance? By contrast, look at the mess some of our leading European politicians with charisma and bags of personality have landed in, like Bernard Kouchner, Sarkozy, Berlusconi and Blair, with their unmeasured, spontaneous schutzpah and hot air, which often just plays to the gallery. I do not see such performances as examples of good politics: just egomania. I gather both van Rompuy and Ashton are convincing political performers with solid track records. This seems a much more convincing basis on which build solid political capital, while also bringing clarity and credibiltiy, which is what the EU has lacked. Just ask Washington or Bejing. The public, the media and the lowest common denominators don't want good politics; they seem to want exciting politics. How extraordinary - and frankly, childish. Don't confuse politics with being a celebrity.

Posted by Anthony McCall-Judson at 1:45am on November 21, 2009

I think I read that the Baronness was described as having been in an ADMINISTRATIVE position in CND. Is she, was she or was she not a MEMBER of CND? Whatever, I will watch with interest how she will reconcile that conviction as the High Representative of a Nuclear Weaponed European Union. Wow, BNP and CND both getting top jobs in the same year - times have certainly changed.

Posted by pagey at 12:39pm on November 22, 2009