Blandness Dominates EU Agenda
Leo Cendrowicz, Time | November 20, 2009
The final selection of Herman Van Rompuy and Baroness Catherine Ashton in the two major EU positions created by the Lisbon Treaty couldn't be blander. ++ The need to please everyone has again stunted Europe's standing and led to appointments of compromise. ++ Angela Merkel and Nicholas Sarkozy were said to favour the “lightweight” Van Rompuy for fears that a high profile candidate would dominate the agenda. ++ “The choice of Van Rompuy and Ashton was seen as exposing the gap between the EU's ambition and its grandiose rhetoric.”
