Brussels, Belgium (CNN) -- European Union leaders named Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy as the first "president of Europe" Thursday, edging out former British Prime Minister Tony Blair for a still-vaguely defined job. "I did not seek this high position, and I didn't take any steps to achieve it," Van Rompuy said in accepting the job. "But tonight, I take on this task with conviction and with enthusiasm." Van Rompuy, a 62-year-old, soft-spoken fan of Japanese poetry, will become the face of European Union and represent its 27 member nations at summits overseas. His conservative government took office in December 2008.
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Belgian PM Herman Van Rompuy appointed first "president of Europe," British PM Gordon Brown says
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Tony Blair ruled out after his successor as UK PM realized Blair had insufficient support
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President of EC will be first permanent chief of the European Council of Ministers
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Selection conducted by heads of state and government, not by Europe's parliamentarians
Europe
Europe
Europe
The people of @placeholder are getting no say, not even through their parliamentarians.
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British
And as the one man who might have been able to take Britain into the European single currency, he had not even attempted to do so while he was @placeholder's prime minister.