Taking a responsible decision

At the end of this year Kofi Annan will cease to be secretary-general of the United Nations. Last week he opened his final UN General Assembly. His was not a stunning speech, but it made some strong points on the state of the world, in particular the need to pursue peace in the Middle East and the need to do more for the developing world and the afflicted - not least by the member states of the UN living up to their moral and financial pledges.

Although the representatives of these states clapped enthusiastically, it is a safe bet that few, if any, will actually heed Annan’s words. After all, even if they are meant to carry great moral authority, secretary-generals are servants of the UN and therefore technically of the member states - and why should masters listen to servants?

This complex intertwining of authority and subservience has always been inherent in the role of the secretary-general, as also it is for all heads of inter-governmental organisations (IGOs), including the EU. And it is this intertwining which lies at the heart of the frequently voiced frustration with such job-holders. For they are expected to be chief executives in the business sense, to deliver a worthy product and high dividends, yet at the same time to take conflicting orders which often undermine such an outcome. This is because IGOs are essentially a model in which the shareholders are also the board members - and effectively also the customers. It is therefore impossible to satisfy these identical constituencies in all their permutations - yet nonetheless the shareholders expect these head figures to do so, or at the very least to take the blame when they fail to allow him or her to do so.

In his two years in office European Commission President José Manuel Barroso has become familiar with this complex situation and so far he appears to be dealing with it by keeping a low profile and shying away from conflict with the member states. That is a pity since his clients and shareholders, in the form of the EU citizenry, need more help in dealing with his board - the ailing political leaders of the member states. But Barroso’s habit of avoiding trouble is not surprising if one thinks back to his selection by these same ailing politicians, which was more of a boardroom coup than a model of responsible management. Politics and power-plays took firm precedence over qualifications or suitability to the job. While Barroso appears to have plenty of both, one wishes he would show them more often.

Barroso’s less than ideal selection is a warning for Kofi Annan - or rather his successor, who will be elected in the coming weeks, possibly days, in a process shrouded in secrecy. The declared candidates have wide-ranging qualifications, from diplomacy to authorship, their main common attribute being that they are nearly all from Asia, since everything in the UN is decided by geographical allocation and it is deemed to be Asia’s turn. The only non-Asian is Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga.

The EU has yet to declare a stance on the selection, and it probably will not now that there is an EU member in the race. That is a mistake. Notwithstanding the need for a female UN secretary-general, Vike-Freiberga should be persuaded to withdraw. It is important for Asia to lead the organisation, both because it is its turn and because it is now such a global economic power. At the same time the EU should lead the way in demanding new standards and transparency for the selection process in order to ensure a worthy candidate is chosen - and then adopt these standards for its own. In the business world this would be known as corporate social responsibility.

• Ilana Bet-El is an academic, author and policy adviser based in Brussels.

At the end of this year Kofi Annan will cease to be secretary-general of the United Nations. Last week he opened his final UN General Assembly. His was not a stunning speech, but it made some strong points on the state of the world, in particular the need to pursue peace in the Middle East and the need to do more for the developing world and the afflicted - not least by the member states of the UN living up to their moral and financial pledges.