In this interview excerpt, Mark Eyskens, Prime Minister of Belgium in 1981 and Minister for External Relations from 1989 to 1992, analyses the many reasons for the lack of popularity of the various institutions that make up the European Union (EU). He also sets out his Saturnian model for Europe, consisting of a large planet at the centre of the EU, which might be composed of the countries in the euro area, for example, surrounded by rings, representing countries in convergent transition.

In this interview excerpt, Mark Eyskens, Prime Minister of Belgium in 1981 and Minister for External Relations from 1989 to 1992, analyses the introduction of a single President of the European Council under the Treaty of Lisbon and emphasises the difficulties concerning the distribution of powers between this President and the rotating Council Presidency.

In this interview excerpt, Mark Eyskens, Prime Minister of Belgium in 1981 and Minister for External Relations from 1989 to 1992, suggests that Herman van Rompuy, President of the European Council, should distance himself from his Belgian origins during the Belgian Presidency in the second half of 2010 so as not to lay himself open to criticism.