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Van Rompuy new euro-zone overlord

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"The president of the Euro summit will be designated by the heads of state or government of the euro area at the same time the European Council elects its president and for the same term of office," summit conclusions seen by AFP confirmed.

The European Council is the body in which the European Union's 27 states take binding decisions while the euro-zone counts 17 of the EU members so far.

"Pending the next such election, the current president of the European Council will chair the Euro summit meetings," the conclusions said, in reference to Van Rompuy's current position.

"The president of the Euro summit will keep the non euro-area member states closely informed of the preparation and outcome of the summits," they added.

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt meanwhile said on arrival at the summit that Stockholm was "at the moment very far from entering the euro."

He said the Swedish people voted against adopting the euro in a 2003 referendum and added: "We have said we would respect (that outcome) until we see a clear switch in opinion.

"Right now in Sweden, the support for the Swedish currency has probably never been so high," he said.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2010