Here, there, everywhere Blair: Tony for Europe’s president?
There goes Tony Blair, stepping down from his job as Britain’s prime minister to become the special, peace-making envoy of the so-called diplomatic Quartet – the U.S., the United Nations, Russia and the European Union – to Israel and the Palestinian territories.
There goes Blair again, signing a lucrative publishing contract for a tell-all memoir of his decade at the helm of Britain’s government – a book that may well end up telling only the same, tired tale of the ex-PM’s stubborn allegiance to George W. Bush and spinning the same old double-talk about the lies they used to justify the Iraq war.
There goes Blair again, signing up for a reported, $5 million-a-year gig with the U.S. investment bank J.P. Morgan, which he “is expected to advise…on the political and economic changes brought about by globalization.” Blair has said he intends “to take up ‘a small handful’ of similar roles with other companies in different sectors.” Recently he said: “I have always been interested in commerce and the impact of globalization.” (BBC) (And in money?)
And here comes Blair now, making a confident pitch to become the first-ever president of the European Union. It’s a new, potentially high-profile, influential position – and he wants it. In fact, the recent convert to Roman Catholicism seems to covet it.
The position of president of the E.U. was “outlined in [a] treaty signed by the [organization's] 27 member states at the end of last year.” It will “replace the current system, whereby each country assumes the rotating presidency [of the E.U.] for six months. The job, a two-and-a-half-year term, will be up for grabs in 2009 if the bloc’s 27 member states can keep to their timetable and individually ratify the treaty over the next year.” Meanwhile, Blair appears to be the first well-known politician who has begun to publicly position himself for consideration for the job. (Germany)
Deutsche Welle notes that Blair “certainly has the credentials to tackle what will be a very demanding role. The E.U. president’s post, which will be renewable once for any incumbent, is aimed at providing a personal face for the sometimes faceless European [Union] institutions. One of Blair’s strongest skills is his public persona and his ability to work with diplomats of all levels and nations.” The new Europe-wide chief executive would also have to be someone with “a strong character” that would allow him or her “to help define the job” as something distinctly different “from that of the E.U. ‘High Representative’ for foreign affairs, a post [that was] also introduced in [last year's] treaty, and [from that of] the European Commission president’s role. Blair has never had a problem with showing those around him who’s boss, with maybe the exception of the president of the United States.”
In France this past weekend, Blair addressed a gathering of French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s conservative Union for a Popular Movement party and strongly hinted that he is interested in the E.U. president’s post. Sarkozy reportedly supports his bid. Positioning himself as a politician for all people, Blair said: “When it comes to Europe, it is not about left or right, but the future and the past, and even strength or weakness….As we advance in the 21st century – like China and India, both of which have larger populations than America and a united Europe, twice over – our mission in the world does not include looking backward….[W]e are so much more powerful, more effective…if we are part of a larger Europe, together, united and strong.” (Agence France Presse)
France will take over the E.U. rotating presidency in July. That development could give Sarkozy’s government “considerable influence over the selection process” for the new job Blair appears to be seeking. Jean-Marc Ayrault, the Socialists’ leader in France’s national assembly, seemed to be “in no doubt as to what was behind Blair’s appearance” at the UMP powwow. Ayrault later remarked: “I can see something going on with the UMP and a French president [that are] not averse to tactical maneuvers, and that is to prepare Tony Blair’s candida[cy] for the European Union presidency.” (Agence France Presse)
Blair is scheduled to pop up again at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this month. Even with Sarkozy’s backing, he might not be a shoo-in for the E.U. president’s post. Notes the Guardian: “His support for the war in Iraq, and Britain’s reluctance to join the euro [monetary system] and other core projects” – those dubious accomplishments from Blair’s tenure as the U.K.’s prime minister are “likely to count against him when E.U. leaders vote for their president later this year.” (See also the Independent)
About Blair’s prospects for landing the big E.U. job he appears to be aiming for, British Member of the European Parliament Andrew Duff, a specialist on institutional issues, observed: “I suspect Blair is excluded from the list [of potential contenders]; it isn’t a realistic option. It would be a mistake to pick an ex-PM of a large [E.U.] member state, because the balance of power between big and small member states is a sensitive question.” Also, notes Deutsche Welle, “Blair has shown himself to be an advocate for the primacy of nation-states, which may fly in the face of the European idea of federalism, a standpoint supported by another front-runner [for the E.U. presidency], Luxembourg Premier Jean-Claude Juncker.”