What? Who would that be?

Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger famously asked: "Who do I call if I want to call Europe?" Last week, he finally got his answer, although he would be forgiven for retorting: "What? Who's that?"

Herman Van Rompuy and Catherine Ashton are names that you may not have heard until last week. But today they are the first President of the European Council and the EU Foreign Minister or High Representative for Foreign Affairs respectively; two new roles created by the Lisbon Treaty, which enters into force next week.

Are you indifferent, dissatisfied or unimpressed? If you are any of these, then you are probably in the norm. But since you are an EU citizen, they will be speaking on your behalf on some issues that may matter for you. And you should therefore have take a closer look at this.

First things first. Let's recall what the two posts stand for.

Mr Van Rompuy will be the President of the European Council, which brings together each Prime Minister or head of government from each EU country, including Lawrence Gonzi.

His responsibility will be to chair this Council, make preparations for it, take its work forward and ensure continuity. Crucially, he must facilitate unity and consensus within the Council. This means that he must be a man of compromise and not a man of controversy.

The President is appointed by the European Council itself without any involvement from us in the European Parliament (unlike the European Commission, which requires our vote of confidence). In this sense, he is not the President of the entire EU but simply the chairman of the group of EU Prime Ministers.

Except for one point. He will be responsible - in conjunction with Baroness Ashton - for giving voice to the external representation of the Union in foreign affairs and in this capacity he will certainly represent us all and that's where we hope that Europe can finally start making a difference.

As High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Baroness Ashton will be responsible for chairing the EU Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs (that's where Tonio Borg sits), contribute towards the formulation of foreign policy and implement decisions. She will also be responsible for representing the EU in foreign affairs, in third countries and in international organisations.

Baroness Ashton will be supported by a newly-established European External Action Service, which will be composed of officials from the Commission, from the Council and from each member state.

That clarifies the roles. Now let's move on to the criteria, formal and informal, that were expected of prospective candidates.

Firstly, some wanted the President of the European Council to be a well-known charismatic personality able to force decisions through and give a recognisable face to Europe on the world stage. Typically, a sitting or former Prime Minister. Someone with star power who could "stop traffic" wherever he goes.

This school of thought clearly lost out.

Instead, the prevailing mood opted for a person who is not known on an international scale and who would therefore not upstage the Sarkozys, Berlusconis and Merkels of this world. Instead, they opted for one who could build respect over time and, crucially, act as a consensus-seeker-and-builder in the rough seas of diverging interests of the European Council.

In other words, a person who is not strong because of his own personality but because of his ability to gel together the different personalities of 27 different Prime Ministers. That pretty much sums it up.

Secondly, the new office holder had to be a convinced European coming from a country that is a front-runner in European integration.

Thirdly, the new post had to be filled from a small member state, at least for the first time, to show that the large countries are not out to dominate smaller ones.

Fourthly, the two candidates had to hail from the two largest political formations in Europe, that is, the European People's Party (EPP) and the Socialists, thereby reflecting the result of the last European Parliament elections.

And, finally, ideally, the candidates also had to reflect gender balance.

Mr Van Rompuy, Prime Minister of Belgium, who hails from the EPP political family, appears to have fit the bill. Having become Prime Minister less than a year ago, his consensus-style marked a return to calm in a country that had recently taken its internal divisions almost to the brink. Belgium, let us not forget, is deeply divided between its two main regional and linguistic communities: the Dutch-speaking Flanders in the north and French-speaking Wallonia in the south. Mr Van Rompuy brought some calm in their storm.

Additionally, his country is a founding member of the Union, firmly established among the 16 inner-core EU member states (out of 27) that are part of all levels of EU integration, including the Schengen free movement zone and the eurozone (Malta is among them too).

The candidacy of former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair lost out on almost all these points. But the UK was handsomely compensated with the nomination of Baroness Ashton as High Representative. Although a complete unknown outside Brussels circles, she earned a reputation for competence in her job as EU Trade Commissioner and has also delivered on gender balance.

However, unlike Mr Van Rompuy's, her confirmation must also go through the European Parliament since, as High Representative, she will also automatically be a vice president of the European Commission.

Ironically, the low-key image of Mr Van Rompuy and Baroness Ashton also means that the spotlight will remain on Josè Manuel Barroso, the reconfirmed president of the European Commission. Mr Barroso, who already enjoys a respectable international recognition, will be glad to bask in the spotlight. And for the rest of us, that is not bad news at all because, when all is said and done, it is his position that matters most.

Dr Busuttil is a Nationalist member of the European Parliament.

www.simonbusuttil.eu