Herman who? Europe's new president rises from obscurity

He's smart, he's modest, he writes Japanese haiku about going bald. He looks like an absent-minded professor, and his public name recognition outside Belgium is virtually zero.

This is the new president of the 27-nation European Union, as described by one American correspondent. It is hard to disagree.

Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy has been selected to speak on behalf of the EU’s 500 million people to the rest of the world.

The choice follows ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, which is intended to make the EU sleeker and give it a stronger voice in global affairs.

But, as the Los Angeles Times reports, 

Far from strengthening the EU, critics say, the contentious process of choosing a president has merely spotlighted the alliance's shortcomings and shown once again that, despite self-congratulatory pep rallies in Brussels, it still isn't ready for prime time.

The report goes on to quote an expert’s view:

"The whole thing has descended into farce," says Christopher Bickerton, who lectures on European politics at Oxford University. "It's made the European Union seem more of a joke than a reality."

It certainly did not favour someone as high profile as Tony Blair – the former British prime minister who is known, if not wholly respected, around the world.

As the Times adds,

Plenty of European leaders don't relish the idea of being upstaged by the charismatic, limelight-loving Blair. Does, say, German Chancellor Angela Merkel really want to have to shout to be heard over the voice of a powerful EU president?

The short list included Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, who resembles Harry Potter but who is far less famous; Jean-Claude Juncker, prime minister of Luxembourg, which is even smaller than Belgium; and Vaira Vike-Freiberga, the former president of Latvia and the only woman on the list.

However, the “election” did not ignore women – the UK salvaged something from the Blair fiasco with the naming of Baroness Catherine Ashton –the European Commissioner for Trade – in the other top-ranking post on offer, that of “foreign minister” (more accurately, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy).

She has no experience in a foreign policy portfolio and while considered up to the jobs given her, she is noted for making her way in UK Labour politics through an appointed peerage and never having stood for election.

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown is said to have gained support for her nomination after he gave up any attempt to put Mr Blair into the key presidency post.

President Van Rompuy's first public statement is here.