Low-profile EU president faces summit baptism of fire

(BRUSSELS) - The new European Union president Herman Van Rompuy finally emerges from the political shadows Thursday to face his first real test since being named to the bloc's new top job.

Routinely criticised for his low profile, the former Belgian premier has invited EU leaders to a "strategic discussion" at a 100-year-old library replete with leather bound tomes in the European quarter of Brussels.

The symbolism could not be clearer; leaders toiling quietly without aides in a hallowed centre of reflection, far from the prying media as the cerebral 62-year-old has banned reporters from questioning them prior to the meeting.

But the style of the haiku-writing Belgian -- whose behind-the-scenes approach worked to calm inter-communal fighting in national politics -- does little to answer the question as to exactly who is in charge in the new Europe.

With the arrival of the Lisbon Treaty of reforms, which came into force in December, the EU now has four presidents and a foreign affairs supremo, all flexing new political muscle and clamouring for a place in the spotlight.

Unknown on the international scene -- the British business weekly The Economist dubbed him "Mr Nobody" -- the Flemish Christian Democrat is a quiet achiever, according to his loyal backers.

"Someone who is capable of governing Belgium is capable of governing anything," said Jacques Attali, an aide to former French president Francois Mitterand. "I have full confidence that Mr Van Rompuy will succeed."

Former European Commission chief Jacques Delor has described him as a "good choice", while the historian Elie Barnavi warned that those who underestimate him "are badly mistaken".

"They haven't taken the measure of the man correctly, he is a politician of the highest possible order," said Barnavi.

One insider underlined that "he's not interested in stealing the limelight" and that "he is very good at is bringing divergent voices together."

If his invitation to the informal summit -- to focus on the economic crisis and quake-ravaged Haiti -- is anything to go by, Van Rompuy knows that Europe's real power still remains in the hands of the 27 member states.

"I see our meeting as the beginning of a process of close and ongoing concertation among heads of state or government on all major issues facing the EU," he wrote.

"It is my intention for the European Council (EU leaders) to regularly come back to those themes and provide clear guidance."

Up until this summit, Van Rompuy has worked in the corridors, and during quiet visits to Europe's capitals since he took office in December.

During that time, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has watched the power of his EU presidency -- held by Spain until the end of June -- decline.

His proposal on economic governance, including sanctions to punish countries who do not play by the rules, was rejected, and then President Barack Obama pulled out of an EU-US summit set for May in Madrid.

EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton also struggled to hit the ground running, and was widely criticised for her lack of skills and failure to quickly head to Haiti after the quake hit.

Meanwhile European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has gained considerable power, yet while he and Van Rompuy are in regular contact, competition between them simmers just below the surface.

However Van Rompuy "only wants to talk when he has something to say," one European official sniped anonymously.

Informal Meeting of Heads of State or Government