Word: vans
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Until Herman Van Rompuy became Belgium's Prime Minister 11 months ago, he was barely known even in his home country. But on Thursday night, the self-effacing former economist, whose hobbies include caravanning and writing haiku, was named the European Union's first permanent President...
...become household names, but today, most Europeans will be scratching their heads at the decision by the E.U.'s 27 leaders to anoint Van Rompuy and Ashton to the organization's top two jobs. After all, the positions, which were created by the E.U.'s newly ratified Lisbon Treaty, were supposed to give a voice and a face to Europe on the world stage...
...choice prompted accusations that the E.U. had gone for the lowest common denominator. Van Rompuy was "bland" and Aston "unremarkable," said Daniel Cohn-Bendit, a German Member of the European Parliament who heads the Green group in that body. "E.U. leaders have continued the job of weakening the E.U. institutions," he said. "Europe is sinking...
...Van Rompuy recognized that the wider European public sees him as an unknown quantity, and he addressed it head-on after the summit. "There has been a great deal of talk and comment about the future profile and image of the President of the Council," he said. "But the key things are dialogue, unity and action: the image of the Council resides in strength through results...
...Van Rompuy's career has been mainly that of a behind-the-scenes fixer in Belgian politics. And he emphasized that his position was not that of chief executive but, as President of the European Council, the body that gathers the E.U.'s leaders for summits, he is more of a chairman, whose role is to mediate across the E.U. "My personal opinion is totally subservient to the Council," he said. "It doesn't matter what I think. My role is to find a consensus...