European Union leaders are likely to meet next week to decide who should take two powerful new EU jobs but no favourites have yet emerged, French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner said today.
Mr Kouchner said he doubted the 27 EU heads of state and government would agree this week, as had seemed possible, on who should become president of the EU Council and the union's high representative for foreign affairs.
"Honestly, there are no favourites at the moment," he told France Inter radio. "France does not have any favourite. We are waiting. There will be a meeting, I think, next week. It should have been at the end of this week, but I don't believe that will happen."
EU diplomats have said there was strong backing for Belgian prime minister Herman Van Rompuy to become council president, but Kouchner said former British prime minister Tony Blair and Luxembourg leader Jean-Claude Juncker remained in the running.
"There is Tony Blair's name, of course, and that was the first (to be mentioned). There is the name of the Belgian prime minister, and then there are other names. There is Jean-Claude Juncker," he said.
EU leaders discussed the question yesterday on the sidelines of celebrations marking the fall of the Berlin Wall and Sweden, which holds the rotating EU presidency, is expected to call a summit in Brussels when there is a clear consensus.
Swedish prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said in Berlin that he was speaking to all EU leaders and was half-way through his consultations.
It was reported last week that the campaign of former taoiseach John Bruton remains well behind the running, with sources in Brussels and Dublin questioning his tactical approach and whether he can garner support from east European leaders.
Mr Kouchner reiterated that EU powerhouses France and Germany would support the same candidates and made no mention of who might become the EU foreign policy chief.
Although he declined to say who he supported for the office of president, he indicated that he wanted a heavy hitter. "The time has come for us to have someone who can make their weight felt not only in meetings, but in the preparation for these meetings, in the European debate," he said.
The post of president of the Council of EU leaders is being created under the Lisbon Treaty.
The high representative for foreign affairs will have enhanced powers under the treaty, to help the EU to raise its global profile and match the rise of emerging powers such as China following the economic crisis.
Meanwhile, Taoiseach Brian Cowen is considered increasingly likely to choose former minister Máire Geoghegan-Quinn for Ireland’s seat on the incoming EU Commission.
Reuters