Word: merkel
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...what landed him the job. Although he is recognized in Belgium for defusing tensions between the country's Flemish and French speakers - a quality that could come in handy with the 27-member E.U. - his low profile appears to have endeared him to his initial sponsors, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. The two leaders are thought to have balked at a big name like former British Prime Minister Tony Blair as E.U. President, because they feared he could become a strong rival for the spotlight. Van Rompuy, by contrast, might have lightweight political credentials...
...Already, strategies are unfolding. French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have agreed to support a joint candidate for the presidency, although they haven't named any names yet. The two leaders presented their plan as a way to bolster the French-German axis in the E.U., which is considered key to further European integration. But the move angered Eastern European and Scandinavian countries, which see it as an attempt to impose a two-state directoire on the E.U. The Benelux countries, meanwhile, are throwing their support behind their own Prime Ministers - Herman Van Rompuy of Belgium, Peter...
...entire European operation is still an option. "Failure to reach the restructuring that is needed would result in the operation becoming insolvent - that would be an unnecessary and undesirable outcome for everyone," says Karin Kirchner, a spokeswoman for GM in Zurich. (Read " 'Much Work' Ahead for German Chancellor Merkel...
...Merkel does have one option left: to take her complaints about GM straight to the top. Government sources said on Thursday that she had spoken to President Barack Obama about the situation on Wednesday night. Obama reassured Merkel that he had not been involved in GM's decision to back out of the sale. (See TIME's photo-essay "GM's Eight Great Hopes...
...Although Merkel is angry now, the timing of the news could have been worse - GM could have changed its mind before the Sept. 27 parliamentary polls. Such a move could have cost Merkel's party the election, which means she could have missed that trip to Washington to address Congress...