Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- The European Union’s first presidential campaign heated up, with Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy emerging as a possible compromise candidate after former U.K. leader Tony Blair’s chances faded.

Momentum built for a decision as soon as next week after the last hurdle to the creation of the post fell yesterday with Czech President Vaclav Klaus’s endorsement of the 27-nation bloc’s governing treaty.

Van Rompuy, 62, joined Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, 53, and Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, 54, as potential choices for EU leaders as they prepare to pick their first president. Debate has centered on the choice between a globally recognized name or a practitioner of behind- the-scenes coalition-building.

“Van Rompuy is the man to watch,” said Peter Ludlow, founder of the Brussels-based Centre for European Policy Studies and author of “The Making of the New Europe.” “It is Van Rompuy’s job to say no to.”

Van Rompuy brought political stability to Belgium after taking over last December, ending a year when the country went through three prime ministers and speculation was rife that it might split apart.

Jerome Hardy, a spokesman for the Belgian leader, had no comment on the EU campaign.

A trained economist, Van Rompuy worked at the Belgian central bank from 1972 to 1975 before going into politics, where he had stints in government in the 1980s and 1990s. As budget minister, he helped drive down Belgium’s debt from a peak of 135 percent of gross domestic product in 1993. It fell to below 100 percent of GDP in 2003.

‘Good Thing’

Van Rompuy didn’t seek the post of Belgian leader and hasn’t shown an interest in the EU job. While his selection would be “an incredible honor and a good thing for Europe, we would lose him and be faced with a new chapter,” Marianne Thyssen, head of his CD&V party, told Belgian radio yesterday.

Paddy Power Plc, Ireland’s biggest bookmaker, made Balkenende the 9-4 favorite, ahead of Blair at 11-4, Van Rompuy at 3-1 and Juncker at 4-1.

The powers of the president, with a 2 1/2 year-term renewable once, remain to be fleshed out. The establishment of the post by the so-called Lisbon Treaty, replacing a six-month rotating leader, was intended to increase the EU’s global clout.

A summit to appoint a president will take place “as soon as possible,” Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, now in charge of chairing EU meetings, said in a statement yesterday.

Juncker’s Vow

After a summit last week, Juncker, the EU’s longest-serving leader, indicated he put his name forward to knock out Blair, an old rival with whom he sparred over the bloc’s budget in 2005.

“Had I said I’m not interested, I suppose that immediately they would have started lighting candles in Downing Street and the Palace of Westminster,” Juncker told reporters on Oct. 30.

Balkenende told Dutch news agency ANP on Oct. 30 it was “premature” to be considered a candidate after EU leaders indicated their selection of Blair was unlikely.

“The names of the first wave are not necessarily the winners of the last wave,” French President Nicolas Sarkozy told reporters.

Blair, 56, failed to win the backing of socialist allies, such as Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann and Spain’s Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, partly due to his support for George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Seeking Support

Blair called Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel over the weekend to press his case, the Financial Times reported today, citing a “senior London official.”

Instead, the socialists set their sights on the post of foreign-policy chief, effectively ceding the job of president to the conservatives.

Two contenders tipped by the European media are U.K. Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Massimo D’Alema, a former prime and foreign minister of Italy.

Approval of the Lisbon Treaty by Czech President Klaus, the last holdout, ended eight years of wrangling and raised the prospect that the new posts could be created as soon as Dec. 1.

Bowing to a Czech high court ruling and pressure from across Europe, Klaus signed the treaty in private and then told reporters in Prague that the upgrade of the EU’s powers means the Czech Republic “ceases to be a sovereign state.”

The Czech ratification documents will be deposited with the Italian Foreign Ministry in Rome, where the treaty founding the then six-nation bloc was signed in 1957.

To contact the reporter on this story: James G. Neuger in Brussels at jneuger@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 4, 2009 05:07 EST