Appointments proof of intactFranco-German alliance

PARIS: Appointing a new president and a foreign affairs head was meant to put a fresh face on the European Union, but the choice of two relative unknowns leaves the familiar Franco-German alliance as the EU's dominant force.

Belgian Prime Minister Herman van Rompuy was named on Thursday as president of the European Council, confirming that the public face of the EU would be a low-key consensus builder rather than a high-profile international star.

The appointment as foreign policy chief of Catherine Ashton, a Briton almost unknown to the general public, underlined a choice that left the dominant powers in the European Union still in the driving seat.