The EU’s first president, Herman Van Rompuy, officially took office Tuesday as the bloc’s reforming Lisbon Treaty entered into force, giving the European project a human face as it enters a new era.
Baroness Catherine Ashton at the same time became the European Union’s foreign policy supremo – a post already dubbed “EU foreign minister”.
The treaty, drawn up to replace the aborted EU constitution, is designed to boost the bloc’s global standing and streamline the institutions which represent half a billion people.
“The Treaty of Lisbon puts citizens at the centre of the European project” EU Commission chief José Manuel Barroso said in a statement.
The treaty will also reinforce the EU parliament’s role and cut the number of national vetoes on European policy.
“The EU will be better equipped to meet expectations in the fields of energy, climate change, cross-border crime and immigration. It will also be able to speak with a stronger voice on the international scene,” promised Mr Barroso.
But most attention is on the two new top jobs, the most immediate and visible effects of the treaty which came into being at midnight (2300 GMT on Monday).
The 27 EU heads of state and government chose Mr Van Rompuy, who was the serving Belgian prime minister, for the top jobs at a summit this month after much behind-the-scenes horse-trading.
His post, the President of the European Council is for a two-and-a-half year term renewable once.
One goal is to give the EU a more stable leadership than the current system, whereby the EU presidency rotates among the member states every six months.
The leaders also chose Ashton, who was EU trade commissioner, to become the bloc’s high representative for foreign and security affairs for a straight five years.
A ceremony to mark the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, and the positions it creates, will take in the Portuguese capital on Tuesday, where the text was first signed, with Mr Van Rompuy and Lady Ashton attending.
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