Friday November 13, 2009

FACTBOX - Possible contenders for new EU foreign policy chief

REUTERS - European Union leaders are expected to appoint a foreign policy chief at a summit on Thursday.

The high representative for foreign affairs and security policy will have enhanced powers under the bloc's Lisbon reform treaty and head an external action service designed to give the bloc more influence on the world stage.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad speaks to the media in the courtyard at the Elysee Palace following a meeting with France's President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris November 13, 2009. (REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes)

He or she will answer to EU governments but will also be a vice-president of the executive European Commission and manage its large external aid budget.

Below are some leaders who could be candidates.

FORMER ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER MASSIMO D'ALEMA

D'Alema, 60, is a member of Italy's main opposition party, the centre-left Democratic Party, but has the backing of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. A spokesman for the Socialist and Democrat group in the European Parliament said he had the group's backing now that Britain's Foreign Secretary David Miliband has all but ruled himself out.

But diplomats say D'Alema's candidacy faces opposition from member states that were once in the Soviet bloc because of his communist past. He joined the Italian communist party in 1968, became a member of its central committee in 1979 and served as editor of the communist newspaper L'Unità in the 1980s.

FORMER ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER GIULIANO AMATO

If D'Alema's communist past proves a hindrance, Amato could emerge as a compromise candidate from the Italian centre-left. Amato, 71, has a long record in Italian politics, serving twice as prime minister and foreign minister, and once as interior minister.

He is seen as a consummate dealmaker and has been at the heart of EU affairs, serving as vice president of the Convention on the Future of Europe, the group that drafted a European constitution that gave way to the Lisbon treaty. He is sharp and energetic but his age may count against him.

BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY DAVID MILIBAND

While Miliband has distanced himself from the post, saying he is committed to politics in Britain, diplomats say there is a strong consensus around the 44-year-old. There remains a chance that last-minute manoeuvrings will see him given the job.

Miliband, a member of the centre-left Labour Party, has backed former British Prime Minister Tony Blair for the new post of EU president, and could not be foreign policy chief if Blair's candidacy was successful. He is seen as a potential future leader of Britain's Labour Party.

EU ENLARGEMENT COMMISSIONER OLLI REHN

The 47-year-old Finnish liberal has won admirers for his calm diplomacy with EU aspirants such as Turkey and the countries of the western Balkans. Political analysts say Rehn's relative youth could be to his advantage and his lack of party political experience could play for or against him. Like Bildt, Rehn's Nordic origins could be a negative factor.

Rehn said recently he would like a meaningful foreign policy job or economic portfolio in the next European Commission, the EU executive.

SWEDISH FOREIGN MINISTER CARL BILDT

The 60-year-old, centre-right former prime minister has decades of experience in diplomacy. Some countries, however, oppose another Scandinavian having a top job because former Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen is NATO chief.

Bildt is also seen by some countries as too outspoken, especially because of his tough stance towards Russia and strong support for Turkey's EU membership bid.

EUROPEAN TRADE COMMISSIONER CATHERINE ASHTON

Ashton, 53, has little foreign affairs experience, but she has proved adept at picking up the busy EU trade portfolio, which she took on after former commissioner Peter Mandelson returned to British politics.

A straight-talking member of Britain's Labour Party, Ashton's candidacy may get support from EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, who has said that he would like to see a woman in one of the top new jobs.

FORMER AUSTRIAN FOREIGN MINISTER URSULA PLASSNIK

A 53-year-old conservative, Plassnik is a prominent pro-EU voice in Austria where many people are Eurosceptics. She quit as foreign minister in December 2008 when a coalition led by Social Democrats took office, ostensibly in protest at its refusal to rule out a referendum on an EU constitution.

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