Prodi's prospects of heading Commission enhanced by report

Mr Romano Prodi's prospects of becoming president of the European Commission improved yesterday with a report that the German Chancellor, Mr Gerhard Schroder, and his Foreign Minister, Mr Joschka Fischer, have agreed to back the former Italian prime minister for the post.

Citing government sources, the conservative newspaper Die Welt claimed that Mr Schroder and Mr Fischer agreed to support Mr Prodi at the end of last week.

The Chancellor has refused to speculate publicly about who should succeed Mr Jacques Santer as president of the Commission, arguing that such speculation made it more difficult for leaders to agree on a choice.

The government insisted yesterday that Germany was not making a pitch for any candidate and denied that the report in Die Welt was inspired by an official briefing.

"Chancellor Schroder has said repeatedly that he is not considering putting forth any names," said government spokesman Uwe-Karsten Heye yesterday.

EU heads of government are expected to choose the next Commission president during the two-day summit that starts in Berlin tomorrow. The German government was reported last week to be backing the Dutch prime minister, Mr Wim Kok, who also had the support of Britain.

But Mr Kok has ruled himself out for the job, insisting that he wants to complete his current term in office.

During his tour of EU capitals last week Mr Schroder is believed to have discovered that Mr Prodi is the candidate most likely to win support from heads of government. France is understood to be fiercely opposed to Mr Kok, partly because another Dutchman, Mr Wim Duisenberg, is president of the European Central Bank.

Mr Prodi's appointment is by no means certain, however, not least because the choice of Commission president could overlap with Agenda 2000 negotiations. Spain recently accused Germany of playing politics with top EU jobs, implying that Bonn had offered to back a Spanish candidate for Commission president if Spain softened its stance on some Agenda 2000 issues.