Miliband turns down EU foreign policy job

UK foreign minister David Miliband yesterday ruled himself out as a candidate for the new EU ‘top job’ of High Representative for Foreign Policy, centre-left sources told EURACTIV.

Miliband, who until yesterday was seen as the European centre-left’s arguably strongest candidate for the prestigious High Rep position, said in a meeting with Party of European Socialists (PES) president Poul Nyrup Rasmussen that he was not interested in the job. 

While Miliband has repeatedly insisted to the British media that he is not available to fill the post due to his desire to remain in Gordon Brown’s cabinet, such denials were at odds with ongoing speculation among European socialists, many of whom believed he was an ideal candidate. 

Miliband’s meeting with Rasmussen, however, is likely to be viewed as a conclusive and definite ‘no’.

Speaking to EURACTIV, a leading Labour source said that “Miliband dipped his toe in the water but has now taken it out again. He is a man with three small children, and he realises that this job will involve spending most of the next five years on a plane”. 

Furthermore, Miliband is favoured by many to become the next leader of the Labour Party if, as is widely expected, Gordon Brown is edged out following a likely Conservative victory in next year’s UK general election. His refusal of the EU job may therefore be a political calculation as much as a personal one, said the source. 

Swedes brainstorm in Berlin 

Miliband’s refusal is likely to be among the hot topics discussed by EU leaders as they meet in Berlin today celebrating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall. 

Current EU presidency holder Sweden will be sounding out heads of state and high-ranking diplomats to consider whether a consensus on the Lisbon Treaty ‘top jobs’ may be forming. 

As soon as they are confident that the outline of an agreement may be in place, Sweden will call an extraordinary EU summit in Brussels, where EU leaders will make a final decision on the new positions.

Speculation around the High Rep job is now likely to turn to other leading European centre-left politicans, including former Italian foreign minister Massimo D’Alema, Romanian MEP Adrian Severin (EURACTIV 29/10/09), former German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and former French EU affairs minister Elisabeth Guigou.

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