CINDERFORD, England — The much-delayed final ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, and the appointment of former Belgium Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy as president of the European Union and Britain's Cathy Ashton as de facto foreign minister, means that the EU will increasingly take center stage on matters of global trade, foreign policy and security as the world looks to Brussels rather than the national capitals of EU members for key decisions.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once famously quipped, "Who do I phone when I want to speak to Europe?" His successors will have the numbers in the future.
EU diplomatic missions will parallel, and in many cases supersede, those of individual member states in Washington, Tokyo, Moscow, Beijing, New Delhi and Rio de Janeiro. As for foreign and security policy, Europe will increasingly speak with one voice that resonates with that of the Berlaymont, the European Commission's headquarters.