Just a short post linking to this BBC story apparently drawn from Paris and Brussels gossip about the candidates for the position of EU Council Presidency — a job of course whose existence later this year is dependent on Ireland passing the Lisbon treaty (and if the No votes spikes up with each round of Bertie hagiography, as it seems to, the treaty could be in more trouble after today).   Anyway, the gist of the story is that Tony Blair is out, despite support from Sarko, because Angie Merkel vetoed him over the Iraq war and the extensive UK opt-outs.  Other mentioned candidates include Jose Manuel Barroso, Anders Fogh Rasmussen (Danish PM), and EU Council veteran Jean-Claude Juncker (Luxembourg PM).  Noticeably absent from the list is Bertie himself, which could be due to any or all of (1) he was never really in the running, (2) some of the Irish opt-outs (e.g. Schengen) may be held against us, (3) the ability to broker oneself into the job weakens without a seat at the table or a powerful patron, or (4) some of the other Council members have been reading the Mahon coverage and wonder if banana skins still lie ahead.   Bottom line: the speculation about Bertie’s next slot probably shouldn’t include this job.