Joy and jubilation were mixed with reactions of surprise and disappointment when it was known that the name behind the call 'Habemus Papam!' was the 78-year-old German born Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the dean of the college of cardinals and defender of conservative orthodoxy for 24 years.
The new pope, Benedict XVI, is known to some as the Vatican's iron hand and a tough-minded enforcer of the true faith, while to others he is a thinker, theologican and refined, open-minded person.
In an interview with Le Figaro in 2004, Ratzinger expressed his clear view on one of the most divisive issues facing the EU: "Turkey has always represented a different continent, in permanent contrast to Europe," he was quoted as saying.
He also called demands for European "multiculturalism" as a "fleeing from what is one's own".
EurActiv will be back with more coverage of the policy implications for the EU.
