SWEDISH PRIME minister Fredrik Reinfeldt is making last-ditch attempts to stitch together a compromise deal between deadlocked EU leaders before a summit tonight to choose the first president of the European Council and the bloc’s new foreign policy chief.
As Mr Reinfeldt set out last night on yet another round of phone consultations with heads of state and prime ministers, sources close to the talks said it was unlikely that consensus would be achieved before leaders arrive in Brussels this evening.
Their dinner is scheduled to continue for three hours but may continue long after that.
Weeks of talks behind the scenes have proved fruitless amid deepening divisions between EU leaders over the suitability of candidates for jobs designed to promote unity in the 27-member bloc.
The process is mired in disarray, with doubts over the capacity of Belgium’s low-key prime minister Herman van Rompuy to garner overwhelming support from his colleagues while the field of contenders for the foreign policy job widens.
This post – to be known as the high representative for foreign affairs and security, or “high rep” – comes with significant new powers in light of the EU’s desire to strengthen its voice on the world stage. However, no one in the current field has achieved momentum as prime contender.
Mr Reinfeldt, who is managing the talks as leader of Sweden’s rotating presidency of the EU, said he needed help from fellow leaders and he expressed frustration yesterday with the practical difficulty of conducting sensitive talks with so many participants.
“I don’t know if you’ve tried to do this but try to get in contact with 26 heads of state or government in 24 hours and good luck,” he told reporters in Stockholm after an EU-Russia summit.
“I need, of course, the collaboration of my colleagues to try to get this through tomorrow night.
“Do we get these figures tomorrow night? Well, I don’t know. It might take a few hours, it might take all night. It has happened before in European history, but that is what I am preparing.”
The Swedish presidency has denied claims in diplomatic circles that it has already ordered breakfast for EU leaders in the belief that their dinner meeting could end in stalemate.
However, EU leaders remain far apart over the merits of the respective candidates for each job.
“There’s a pretty strong expectation that van Rompuy is the strong front-runner, whereas there’s real perplexity over the high rep post,” said a diplomatic source.
It appeared Mr Reinfeldt would not be able to present one name for each job to the summit as he had planned, the source added.
“It’s going to be really very unfortunate if we get to this point. A presidency ought to be able to come to the table and say this is our slate.”
The name of former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, winner of the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize, was circulating last night as a credible alternative to Mr van Rompuy should leaders decide that a candidate of greater renown was required.
Britain continues to promote former prime minister Tony Blair in the face of resistance from his own political family, while several other leaders and former leaders remain in the frame.
Sources said the foreign post remained wide open amid doubt about the credentials of former Italian prime minister Massimo d’Alema, who is considered a front-runner but not necessarily an outstanding candidate.
Another former Italian prime minister, Giuliano Amato, is in contention for the foreign post, as indeed are EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn, Spain’s foreign minister, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, and a number of other candidates.