BRUSSELS: A minister from a major Asian state visiting Brussels last month said he planned to meet the “Prime Minister of Europe”. Of course he could not recall the person’s name — the post does not exist.

The remark shows how the European Union still struggles to find its voice in the world, decades after US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s famous question in the 1970s: “Who do I call if I want to call Europe?”

The bloc now numbers 27 states and its stature has grown but it plays second fiddle to the United States in many parts of the world — notably in Middle East diplomacy — and its power to act remains hobbled by complex internal red tape.

It was to revamp a system described as “verging on dysfunctional” by British diplomat and former EU External Relations director-general Brian Crowe that foreign policy was included in an EU reform treaty due to take effect in January.

EU member states broadly agree that they can exert more influence in a globalised world collectively. But with those same states anxious to protect national interests, it remains to be seen how far-reaching the reforms will prove.

Who will fill a new role of foreign policy supremo, how that person interacts with a planned new EU president, and how the diplomatic support will function have all still to be resolved.

The reform will create a powerful high representative for foreign affairs — combining the role of an existing EU foreign policy coordinator with that of the European Commissioner in charge of the EU’s multi-billion euro aid budget.

That person will be supported by an EU diplomatic corps of some 3,000-4,000, drawn from staff from Brussels, 130 EU delegations worldwide, and the diplomatic services of EU states.

“It’s hugely important, because all our challenges are now external,” said Katinka Barysch deputy director of the London-based Centre for European Reform (CER) think tank.

“You have climate change, terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, energy security and how to deal with China and Russia.”

Antonio Missiroli, director of the European Policy Centre think tank, said the treaty provided a good legal basis for a more coherent EU foreign policy. “But at the moment it’s very difficult to predict how everybody will play this game.”

“There is a little bit of a worry that the whole Brussels machinery will be caught up in battles for turf.”

Barysch said the influence of the high representative — a post currently held by Spanish socialist Javier Solana — depended very much on personality.

“It should be someone well known and respected by world leaders. But frequently in the EU you end up with a compromise — someone who looks like the lowest common denominator.”

One EU foreign policy insider called the expected jostling for position for the jobs of president and foreign policy chief and in the new diplomatic corps “an accident waiting to happen”.

Smaller states fear France and other big nations are already trying to be stitch together arrangements that will be presented as a fait accompli when Paris takes over the rotating EU presidency in July, the source said.

A key question is whether the new EU president evolves as a largely ceremonial role or one with real influence.

Tony Blair, Britain’s former prime minister, has made no secret of his desire for the job, but Missiroli said he would be “very intrusive” in the foreign policy field.

EU diplomats and politicians believe Blair has little chance, as Britain is too disconnected from the EU mainstream, and he is discredited in Europe by his support for the Iraq war.

The smart money is on Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker. A master consensus-builder, he would steal less limelight, but would not accept a purely ceremonial role.

Long a favourite as high representative is Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, a former prime minister with extensive diplomatic experience. However, some consider him too outspoken.

“The rumour gaining ground is that the best personality for the high representative at the beginning is Solana himself — to have a an old and safe pair of hands, at least for one year or two, it would be better to keep him in place,” said Missiroli.—Reuters