Jean-Claude Juncker is the leader of one of Europe's smallest countries and the man with the biggest headache in world politics: how to stop the European Union's slide into turmoil. It is the bad luck of the Luxembourg prime minister to find himself in the hot seat of the six-month European Union presidency at the moment of its greatest crisis.

Over the next two weeks, the rumpled 50-year-old must find a way of holding the Union together, following the rejection of its constitutional treaty by French and Dutch voters. This week, he holds talks with Jacques Chirac, French president. It is a huge challenge but many in Europe believe Mr Juncker is the right man in the right place. Elected in early 1995, he is the longest serving leader in the EU, just pipping Mr Chirac to the title - a fact he never lets Mr Chirac forget.