16/10/2013 00:00
TW
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by RAY FLEMING
ACCORDING to the bookmaker Paddy Power, Tony Blair is now odds-on favourite to become the European Union's first president of its Ministerial Council -- the most important single decision-making body in the EU. It's unwise to second-guess bookmakers but it seems odd that Mr Blair should have such a strong following when no one except the British government has publicly endorsed his candidature and several countries have expressed reservations.

The explanation may lie in the somewhat uninspiring names being mentioned as alternatives to Blair -- Jan Peter Balkanende, the Dutch premier (4/1), Jean-Claude Junker, prime minister of Luxembourg (11/2), Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the former Danish prime minister now in the top job at Nato (6/1), and a raft of other former European presidents and prime ministers. If some reports are to be believed, Britain's Conservatives are campaigning against Mr Blair and regard the prospect of having to deal with him again as “very serious” and likely to lead to a rupture of Britain's relations with the EU . The strange thing about all the speculation is that this new presidential role has not been closely defined. Should the person chosen be a charismatic international figure speaking for Europe around the world or a hard-working fixer who makes sure that the machinery of EU decision-making and implementation works much better than it does at the moment. No prizes for guessing which role Tony Blair sees himself filling.