The incoming President of the European Council does not speak fluent English, French or Spanish. Appointed two weeks ago in Brussels by the 28 European Union (EU) member states, the outgoing Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk will be largely forced to speak through a translator whenever he travels around the world to be the voice and face of the EU.

In similar fashion, though she is much more gifted with foreign languages, the multilingual Italian academic Federica Mogherini will soon take over the very sensitive position of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security without much preparation. Aged 41, Ms Mogherini is nearly unknown on the global stage, therefore reigniting the controversy that surrounded the nomination, five years ago, of another unknown woman, British baroness Catherine Ashton, to the crucial post as Head of the EU’s common diplomacy or EEAS (European External Action Service).

Equally worrying is the recent nomination of Mr Jean-Claude Juncker, 60, to be President of the European Commission next month. Though well known in international circles, and though a savvy conservative politician, the former Prime Minister of Luxembourg is not what one would consider a strong leader. A very affable personality, this lawyer-turned-politician, who has pounded the corridors of Brussels since the mid-1980s, is more well-known as a consensus maker. Though he may be able to pick up the phone and answer in very good English if Washington calls Europe in an emergency, his ability to react quickly, and to impose his views on European capitals in case of disagreements between Paris, London, Berlin, Madrid or Rome, is suspect.

The three appointments come after weeks of trading names and positions among the EU member states, and follow May’s European elections, which marked a clear rise of the far right and openly anti-EU parties such as the Front National in France and the United Kingdom Independence Party in the UK.

WRONG PREOCCUPATIONS

Without disrespect to Mr Tusk, who has proved to be a very resilient Prime Minister of a rather turbulent Poland, it is hard to see him reaching out successfully to the people of Europe.

Before he became head of government, Mr Tusk was not particularly known as a firebrand European, unlike the late Polish historian and politician Bronislaw Geremek. His selection is mainly a reward for Eastern European countries longing for more EU visibility after their integration into the community 10 years ago.

The same applies for Ms Mogherini, who owes her position more to her gender and an extraordinarily active lobbying by Italian Premier Matteo Renzi. It helps that Italy holds the current rotating EU presidency and will host the biannual Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) next month. On a geopolitical scene dominated by foreign affairs veterans and strong personalities such as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif Khonsari, her Italian charm might prove soon insufficient to demonstrate the EU’s credibility and determination.

The truth is that, once again, and despite the severe warnings sent throughout the financial crisis about the need for a strong community leadership, European governments remain more preoccupied with their domestic agenda, issues of gender equality or political party manoeuvring, than with choosing the right cast for those high-profile jobs.

Right after the European elections, some Brussels-based commentators, irritated by the probable choice of Mr Juncker as President of the EU Commission, suggested the name of Ms Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund and a former French Finance Minister. A prominent lawyer, well known on global stages, and well versed in global finance, Ms Lagarde would have been a better choice to bring changes to the Brussels bureaucracy. A strong contender for the foreign affairs job was the high-profile Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, whose confrontational attitude with Russia has raised awareness in Europe of Mr Putin’s ways. But both the names of Ms Lagarde and Mr Sikorski were very quickly discarded.

The reality, after these nominations, is that the EU does not yet understand the scope of the global crisis that is affecting its interests, from Russia to Asia. Despite a severe economic crisis, a public debt bomb not yet defused, high rate of unemployment in several southern countries and an ageing population, the EU believes it has time to fix problems, and still sees communication, charisma and public diplomacy as tools rather than as agents of change.

This assessment is dead wrong. More than ever, Europe is in serious need of gifted political operators, capable of simultaneously addressing the challenges of economic divergence between the north of the continent and its Mediterranean fringes, the difficult constraints of a single currency for 19 of its member states and the reality of a declining military power challenged, to the east, by the Russian bear.

More than ever, in a world dominated by the likes of United States President Barack Obama, Mr Putin and the Islamic State, personalities and messages matter. To believe in Europe, Europeans need, therefore, to have leaders they see as capable of defending their cause and not politicians brought into Brussels’ high positions by deals brokered between their national governments and the European Parliament, for the sole sake of preserving their respective powers. Experience, courage and vision are a must.

If Mr Jean-Claude Juncker, Mr Donald Tusk and Ms Federica Mogherini share such a vision, they should better demonstrate it quickly and forcefully.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Richard Werly is an international correspondent for the Swiss Daily Le Temps. He is also an associate fellow of DiploFoundation (Geneva) and of the EU Centre in Singapore.