In his first interview since becoming EU President, Mr Van Rompuy, the self-styled "grey mouse" and president of the European Council, told The Daily Telegraph the EU's leaders should be pragmatic and not raise expectations too high. Nonetheless, national politicians should defend what had been built in Brussels since the 1950s. "It is the job of British politicians to convince their population. They are elected, I am not elected," he said in his first newspaper interview since taking the job in January. "Let's defend all this. People are keen to believe in something and hope. Of course, you can always invent 30 arguments to demolish all this, but when I talk to people [and] … speak in the language of hope, stressing not just the problems and challenges but also what we have achieved, then there is relief." The 62-year-old former prime minister of Belgium is the first permanent president of the council. His position is supposed to make decision-making easier in the EU and end the confusion of a presidency that rotates among the EU's 27 countries every six months. However, the creation of his post by the Lisbon treaty and that of a chief foreign minister for Europe, which was given to Britain's Baroness Ashton, have added to the fears of sceptics about increasing centralisation of power in the EU. Mr Van Rompuy stressed that the European Council, which brought together European heads of state and government in regular summits, had no executive powers. Those powers resided in the member states and in the European Commission, which was the EU's primary lawmaker and regulator. He attacked a rising tide of populism in the EU that had made Brussels a target. "The populist is for the easy solution. He needs no effort from the population … In our societies over the past 40 years, beside all the good developments, there has been a strong anti-authority feeling against all those who have responsibility, who are in charge, in the school, in the Church, in the government. They are rather easily discredited [and] … easy targets. Europe is a form of authority and Euroscepticism is along those lines." Mr Van Rompuy admitted, however, that the EU had been at fault, particularly in its policing of economic targets, the breaches of which had made the economic crisis in Greece and elsewhere far worse. Now he is ready to fight his first major battle with Germany, over calls from Chancellor Angela Merkel for a new EU treaty to give the European Council "economic governance" over Europe. Mrs Merkel has strongly resisted aiding Greece and other countries in trouble among the 16 countries who use the euro, although she has agreed an aid plan that would also involve the International Monetary Fund if Greece was in danger of defaulting on its debts. In future, Mrs Merkel wants strong sanctions for countries that breach budgetary targets and financial discipline – after Greece in particular had fiddled its numbers for years – and the ability to throw offending countries out of the eurozone. That would require another treaty just after the long and difficult birth of the Lisbon treaty, which led to arguments across the continent, parliamentary battles and referendums. Mr Van Rompuy strongly disagreed on the need for a treaty, while admitting that much closer surveillance of the individual economies was needed. "She [Mrs Merkel] can have that point of view but for treaty changes you need unanimous decision," he said. "Personally I don't agree with expulsion as a sanction. But that is my personal view and we have to wait for the discussion [among member states] … I don't think there is unanimity or consensus about treaty change." The economic crisis had exposed the limits of previous agreements in the EU, but had not been enough, he insisted, to force the opening of a Pandora's box of new treaty negotiations. Such talks would allow countries such as Britain to demand all sorts of other changes to the powers of Brussels and the agreements that bind the EU together such as those on justice and social policy. It would be an ordeal to rank with the travails of the Lisbon treaty, which Mr Van Rompuy, a devout Catholic, compared to the crucifixion of Christ. "We negotiated the new treaty from 2001 to 2009, eight long years, a Calvary. We would not start all that again." The former Belgian leader praised Gordon Brown, who ratified the Lisbon treaty against stiff domestic opposition. And he expressed admiration for Mr Brown's 2007 book Courage, which explores why some people take difficult decisions against the odds. "At a certain moment, at a dinner," Mr Van Rompuy said, "I had [the book] on my knee and the photographs were in every Belgian newspaper. Populism and courage are opposites." In fact Mr Van Rompuy offered praise for successive British governments for defying popular Euroscepticism. "I am not for criticising any British government of the past 20 or 30 years because the fact is they have approved the Maastricht treaty, the Amsterdam treaty, the Nice treaty and the Lisbon treaty," he said. "Europeans cannot complain, British governments are working with us for the Europe as we know it today. Conservative governments, Labour governments: they approved the main treaties of the EU and they comply with European directives as well." Mr Van Rompuy said: "We need economic convergence – I don't say economic union – in the development of the economy. Competitiveness is the really tough issue for the coming years. It will need reforms in a lot of countries, eliminating bottlenecks in labour and product markets, much tighter budget discipline. It is the main topic for the coming years. Without economic convergence, we cannot have monetary unity." He offered reassurance to Britain, saying that any new treaty agreements would require the assent of all member states. "If you want to oppose something you have nothing to fear," he said. Mr Van Rompuy called for a defence of Brussels, but was resistant when pressed on his "vision". "I am a Belgian. We are very pragmatic. We have ideas [but] visions can be dangerous. We want policy. "The main problem of politics today in western Europe, the United States, in all democracies, is the raising of expectations. Then you have to deliver … When the outcome does not bear relation to what you promised than you have tremendous disappointment in public opinion. That creates political instability." Mr Van Rompuy said the EU's achievements over the past year in averting a 1930s-style economic and political meltdown would speak for themselves. "Do not create high expectations about my job or myself," he said. "I am not speaking about slogans. I am speaking about substance." He said that as president he could help with the important role of co-ordination to enhance the EU's economic strength. "Let us focus on that. If you want to call that a vision or an idea then OK. If you want to call it pragmatism that's OK, too."Herman Van Rompuy:
British politicians must win over public about EU
British politicians must win over a sceptical Uk public about the European Union,
according to Herman Van Rompuy, the most senior man in Brussels.
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph in the office in which the Greek deal was agreed last week, Mr Van Rompuy said the crisis had brought out the best of the eurozone in terms of
co-operation. Now he has to head a task force to put in place a system to ensure that such problems do not recur. His grey-walled office, complemented by grey sofas, was the scene of final negotiations between Mrs Merkel and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France. There is little colour in the room besides a vase of yellow tulips and comically stereotypical saucers of Ferrero Rocher chocolates.
Nevertheless, talk of Brussels-led economic government for
the EU has roused scepticism among those in Britain who see creeping federalism, and among politicians, including Mr Brown and David Cameron, who have pledged to fight and refer to a referendum further substantial changes in EU rules.
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