Brown secures EU foreign policy job, cedes economy post

By Adrian Croft

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown has secured a high-profile European Union foreign policy job for Britain, but may have to cede to France an important role in overhauling financial regulation.

Brown lobbied hard for his predecessor, Tony Blair, to become Europe's first president under the new Lisbon treaty.

But, in a flurry of last-minute horse-trading on Thursday, Brown had to accept that Blair, once the front-runner for the job, could not muster enough support.

Instead, Brown secured the post of EU foreign policy chief for a Briton, Catherine Ashton, who has a low profile in Britain. Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy, who is little known abroad, was named as the 27-nation bloc's first president.

Brown said Ashton's appointment would "ensure that Britain's voice is very loud and clear. It will ensure that we will remain -- as I want Britain to be -- at the heart of Europe."

The foreign policy role plays to Britain's strengths as the country is one of the most influential of EU states, taking an active international role on issues such as Iran and the Middle East, climate change and nuclear non-proliferation, and on deploying the second-largest foreign force to Afghanistan.

But, since the new high representative will also be a vice-president of the European Commission and each state can only have one commissioner, the move leaves Britain out of the running for important economic roles.

Financial services are crucial to the British economy and London's financial centre is a major global player, so those jobs would also be important to Britain.