With the Czechs deciding that the Lisbon Treaty doesn't contravene their constitution the Lisbon Treaty finally looks to be on the way to being ratified.

The foremost practical upshot of which is that a new "President of The EU," will have to be elected. When we say elected we don't, of course mean by us, the European public, but by the European heads of state. Which in a lot of ways is kind of like Democracy, but in a lot of ways it also definitely isn't.

More annoying still is the dirge of boring Euro politicians who've put themselves forward for the job. So yawnsome are they that they make Blair (left) look like a Jester. Hang on.... he does!

After the jump we'll analyse just how supremely boring each contender is.

Paavo Lipponen - This former Finnish PM and Stasi co-operator has had a relatively controversial career, for a Finnish politician, which by any rational standards would mean he has been about a controversial as the colour yellow.

He is a "consensus-oriented" politician which we think means he follows the crowd. He also speaks fluent French and English, two essential skills. Although he has about as much international clout as a Big Mac.

Amid allegations that he supported the U.S. invasion of Iraq, a decision that contributed to the loss of his position as prime minister, Lipponen insisted on his and Finland's neutrality.

Finland is the only place where people might protest at government not being neutral enough. What do we want? None commital pacifist foreign policies! When do we want it? Now!

Charisma of: a 3-inch ball of cling film

Jean-Claude Juncker
- Sadly no relation of Van Damme. The Prime Minister of Luxembourg since 1995 and former Governor of the World Bank. Juncker's CV is impressive.

But impressive doesn't mean interesting. Not once during his 14-year stint as Luxembourg's PM has this silver fox been embroiled in so much as a whiff of a scandal. Which says to us that he's doing it wrong.

And let's be honest how hard can it be to run a country with only 493,500 people? It's essentially equivalent to being the Mayor of Brighton.

And his Dad fought for the Nazis - just saying.

Charisma of: a cold cup of tea

Jan Peter Balkenende
- Preeminently bland Dutch PM and Harry Potter lookalike Balkenende is one of the more likely candidates for the job.

He's a centre-right politician but works in coalition with his county's centre-left parties, which would make him perfect for the current political shift in the EU.

The only interesting thing about Balkenende is that his Minister for Foreign Affairs is called Ben Bot and the PM before him was called Wim Kok.

Charisma of: an old wooden step ladder


Aleksander Kwasniewski
- The former post-communism Polish PM sauntered almost unnoticed up the echelons of Polish politics.

He won the 1995 Polish general election by less than a percent despite lying in his campaign statement that he had a Masters degree. He had never submitted his master's thesis nor passed his final exams. Naughty naughty.

But in terms of controversy that is about where the buck stops. He is well respected in Europe and thinks that the EU Presidency should go to smaller nation from "New-Europe" - well he would wouldn't he.

Charisma of: a stubbed toe
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Wolfgang Schussel
- This 63-year-old former Austrian PM didn't exactly do wonders last time his country were in charge of the EU.

Austria succeeded the United Kingdom in holding the European Council Presidency. In front of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Schussel promised to lead the European Union "Hand in Hand" with Germany, and Merkel promised that Germany would do everything to "help" Austria during its presidency and make it a success.

Schussel also said that Austria needed "some friends of the presidency". This led to Brussels diplomats describing the Austrian presidency as "the small German presidency".

And if there is anything more unnerving than a small German we haven't seen it.

Charisma of: a rainy Tuesday in March