Europe’s New Leadership - a Missed Opportunity? With the Lisbon Treaty, the EU intended to simplify the ground rules for the 27 member states, so that Europe would have "one face and one voice." And the heads of state and government reached agreement surprisingly quickly - they shunned all risk and earned international ridicule in return. Britain's EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton is to become the bloc's foreign minister, while Belgian Prime Minister Herman van Rompuy was nominated for the position of Council President. They're two unfamiliar names, even for many insiders. The outcome has been an object lesson in how the EU works and what its current possibilities are.   Of the names originally considered favorites, none survived. Tony Blair or Jean-Claude Juncker as Council President, or Joschka Fischer or David Miliband as Foreign Minister would have added color and panache to Europe's profile. But that is precisely what the EU's big national leaders, jealously guarding their own status and influence, do not want. Unsurprisingly, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel hailed Ashton and van Rompuy as an "excellent choice." Also gleeful is European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, who does not have to fear being overshadowed by the new officers. The incoming Council President has a reputation for producing results even from the most intractable negotiations. He wants to keep everyone happy in the future too. The future foreign minister also doesn't want to make waves, saying she is no "ego on legs." Therefore, most affairs in the EU will remain as they were. "New Europe" has not happened. Thirty years ago, then-US Secretary of State is said to have asked what number he should call if he wanted to talk to Europe. The remark is emblematic of Europe's longstanding ineffectiveness on foreign policy issues. Will the current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ask the same question again? What do yo...