Downing Street Says » EU Presidency

A number of questions were put to the PMS on the issue of the EU Presidency and Tony Blair’s possible candidacy. The PMS said that the Prime Minister had been absolutely consistent on this – that Tony Blair remained the candidate that we would wish to put forward for the Presidency of the Council. The Prime Minister has had various discussions with European leaders and that position remains the case.

The PMS also said that, given the reports on what Prime Minister Reinfeldt has said, there was an expectation, or a hope, that we might get to Thursday with one candidate for each of the two top roles; clearly we would very much like to see Tony Blair as the candidate for the Presidency. He was then asked whether this meant that we would be likely to see the candidates declared before Thursday, to which he replied not necessarily. The PMS repeated in response to a number of questions that Tony Blair remains firmly the preferred candidate but also said that he would not speculate on Tony Blair’s chances of success.

When asked why Tony Blair had not made his intentions on the candidacy clear to the Prime Minister and whether Tony Blair would be at the summit, the PMS replied that was a matter for Tony Blair and that he did not know whether candidates would be attending the summit – that would be a matter for the Swedish Presidency.

He was then asked what the Prime Minister thought the shape of the job should be and whether it would be a mundane chairman’s job, to which he replied that the Prime Minister would never describe any job in the European arena as such. The Prime Minister would think that – like any really significant job – you need to find the best candidate for the role and then it is for them to work with the job description to make sure they feel comfortable with it. The role as envisaged would be both detailed and it would involve someone who would be expected to represent the Council and Europe externally.

Asked whether the UK was putting forward any candidate for the other role of High Representative, the PMS said that Tony Blair would be our only candidate.

In response to the question of how hard the Prime Minister had been lobbying on Tony Blair’s behalf, the PMS affirmed that whenever he had been speaking to European leaders he had been pressing Tony Blair’s candidacy. He was questioned further on whether he would continue to do so over the next few days to which the PMS replied that the Prime Minister would remain as enthusiastic as he always has been about Tony Blair for the Presidency.

When asked when the Prime Minister last spoke to Tony Blair the PMS replied that they were in regular touch.

Asked whether the Swedish are putting pressure on the Prime Minister to put pressure on Tony Blair to declare his hand, the PMS said that he did not know and that the Swedish were very focused on the meeting on Thursday.

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» Monday, November 16, 2009

EU Presidency

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