Brussels diary

Should the EU give its top job to a 67-year-old who left office in the mid-1990s and speaks no English? With 2nd October set as the date for the second Irish vote on the Lisbon treaty, thoughts are turning to who should get the biggest job it creates, president of the European council—providing the Irish vote "yes" of course. The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, once a fan of Tony Blair's candidacy, is now thought to be backing Felipe González, socialist premier of Spain from 1982 to 1996.

Blair's friends have not yet given up on Sarko and Tony has an ally in Italy's Silvio Berlusconi. But Spain's premier José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is hostile to Blair and worse, the political atmosphere is terrible for him. A mini rebellion in the European parliament against José Manuel Barroso's renomination as European commission—MEPs have refused to vote on his re-appointment until the autumn—has made the former British premier a more risky choice. The case against Barroso is that he is a fan of neo-liberal economic policies—the same kind championed by New Labour in Britain. Five years ago, Barroso got the job when Blair decided to veto the front-runner for the job of European commission president, the Belgian ex-prime minister, Guy Verhofstadt. One of the current troublemakers in the parliament is, by a nice irony, the very same Verhofstaft, who is now leader of the liberal group there. The parliament could vote down the next European commission if it didn't like the political balance of appointments, including the choice of president of the council.

Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, who was never enthusiastic about Blair, wants a Franco-German agreement on a candidate for council president but González is a possible compromise. His European credentials are good and he fits one other potential qualification for the job: being no threat to anyone. "The leaders really don't want a powerful president" said one EU diplomat. If Lisbon comes into effect, leaders will have to stomach the new president of the council doing the job they would have done when their country holds the remnants of the EU presidency.



Another theory is that Paris is supporting González in a tactical move. Front-runners for such jobs rarely win through and Blair and González could cancel each other. That would allow another candidate to emerge, perhaps someone like France's prime minister, François Fillon.

Shriti Vadera for Brussels?

Barroso may not have been renominated yet, but the names of some of his new team of commissioners are surfacing already. Poland, for example, is planning to send Janusz Lewandowski, a senior MEP who used to play football with the country's prime minister, Donald Tusk. He will replace Danuta Hubner, one of the least popular commissioners among officials in the Berlaymont. At least one of the current team is staying: Viviane Reding, Luxembourg's commissioner and a surprise success, will serve a third term.

The fate of Catherine Ashton, Britain's trade commissioner, is more delicate. She has been a safe, if unspectacular, pair of hands but rumour has it that she is not rated by her predecessor, Peter Mandelson. Given his influence this could prove fatal. Geoff Hoon's campaign for the job may be fading partly because Barroso is keen to keep up his quota of women. The smart money is now on Shriti Vadera, Gordon Brown's close ally, who has the intellect and experience to command a good portfolio and would also be the first non-white commissioner to boot.

Renaming the cap

They aren't big eaters in Sweden, which has taken over the EU's rotating presidency. On a trip to Stockholm the Brussels press corps had a collective shock when it sat down to what it assumed was the usual three-course lunch. But a dainty dish of fish, presumed to be a starter, turned out to be the only food on offer, prompting an unseemly stampede towards the petit fours that accompanied coffee.

Meanwhile back in Brussels, there's a debate about renaming the infamous common agricultural policy. More than €8bn of the EU's farm aid now goes to rural development programmes, the recipients of which need not be farmers. It is, says an official, really an agricultural and regional policy but the acronym doesn't work in English. Put the "r" after the "a" and you get "carp" which is hardly inspiring. Put it after "common" and it's even worse.