mr president i would like to comment on the informal discussions which we all know dominated the last european council
i refer of course to the selection of the next president of the council and the role he will take
i believe that the president should be the servant of the council a chairman rather than a chief executive
it is therefore important that the president is both collegiate and someone the people trust and with that in mind the worst possible candidate on both scores would be one tony blair
i share chancellor merkel's dread of having to listen to mr flash for the next five years as his motorcade sweeps around the world
the issue of trust is also important and on too many occasions mr blair has shown himself to be completely untrustworthy
he is unfit for public office and i urge the council not to appoint him
