双语新闻：布莱尔欲竞选欧盟主席？(图)

　　It takes a lot for an Englishman to speak French in public. Yet Tony Blair, who has made a habit of it, did it again on January 12th, delivering a speech in praise of reform and European unity to members of France's centre-right ruling party—all in respectable French. Commentators argued that only one prize could explain why the former British prime minister (and nominally centre-left politician) put himself through the ordeal. At the meeting, President Nicolas Sarkozy gave explicit backing to Mr Blair to become the European Union's first full-time president.

　　Under the new Lisbon treaty, the EU's 27 members will be represented by a single figure, serving for two-and-a-half years. That replaces the system which sees countries take it in turns to chair EU meetings for six months. Hailing his guest as one of Europe's “great men”, Mr Sarkozy called on Europe to “aim high”, and not settle for a compromise figure. That certainly sounded like an endorsement.

　　Mr Sarkozy hopes the new chief will be chosen late this year, when France holds the club's rotating presidency. But that can happen only if the treaty is ratified by all 27 members during 2008. Just as likely, the president will be chosen in a horse-trading marathon in 2009, which will also pick a head of the European Commission (roughly, the EU's bureaucracy) and a new foreign-policy chief.

　　对一个英国人来说，在公开场合讲法语不是一件容易的事。然而，托尼·布莱尔已经养成了这个习惯。1月12日，他又这样做了一次，他用体面的法语对法国中间偏右的执政党成员发表了一次演讲，称赞改革和欧洲的团结。评论员说，只有一个激励因素能解释为什么这位英国前首相(名义上是一位中间偏左的政治家)如此卖力。在那次会议上，尼古拉·萨科齐总统明确支持他成为欧盟首位专职主席。

　　根据新的里斯本条约，欧盟27国将由一个单一的人物来代表，任期2年半。这将替代成员国每6个月轮流当欧盟会议主席的制度。萨科齐先生称赞布莱尔为欧洲的“伟大”人物之一，并呼吁欧洲在人选上要确立“高目标”而不能寻求妥协。这听上去就像是(对布莱尔的)认可。

　　萨科齐先生希望新的首领在今年下半年被选出。届时，法国是这个俱乐部的轮值主席国。但是，只有在27个成员国在2008年批准这个条约的情况下，选举才可能进行。很可能，主席将经过马拉松式的讨价还价在2009年才能产生。同时，也将产生欧洲委员会(基本上是欧盟的官僚机构)的头头和一位新的外交长官。