EU: The former attorney general and EU commissioner, Mr Peter Sutherland, has said he will accept the post of Commission president only if all EU leaders support him, write Denis Staunton in Brussels, Mark Brennock, Chief Political Correspondent, and Barry Roche, in Clonmel.
Speaking in Rome yesterday, Mr Sutherland acknowledged that the Taoiseach had floated his name as a possible successor to Mr Romano Prodi, but said the full backing of all 25 member-states was a prerequisite for anyone hoping to succeed in the job.
Mr Ahern said the matter will not be discussed with EU leaders before Sunday and, if he was confident of a candidate at that stage, an EU summit would be called for Tuesday.
Mr Sutherland said: "Nobody would consider accepting the job as Commission president, which is one of the most difficult jobs in the world, without a wholehearted and consensual decision by the European Council. We do not seem to be in such a position but, without it, anybody like me would be very unwise to speculate about what he might do in the future. I will not do so." Mr Sutherland, who is chairman of BP and the investment bank Goldman Sachs, could receive the backing of the European People's Party (EPP), the largest group in the European Parliament.
The Taoiseach expressed the hope that agreement would be found on Mr Prodi's successor before the Irish presidency ends next week. "Next week we'll return to this issue. If we have an agreed name there'll be further consultations and hopefully we'll make progress. Mr Prodi stays in office until October 31st so there's no panic," Mr Ahern told reporters in Tokyo, where he is attending an EU-Japan summit.
While next Tuesday has been pencilled in for a meeting to approve a new president, Mr Ahern said the burden of EU and other business ruled out an agreement before the weekend.
EU leaders failed to agree on a candidate at last week's summit when Britain and its allies blocked the Belgian Prime Minister, Mr Guy Verhofstadt, and France and Germany rejected the External Affairs Commissioner, Mr Chris Patten. If the Taoiseach fails to secure agreement, it will fall to the Dutch presidency to seek a successor to Mr Prodi.
Britain's Europe Minister, Mr Denis McShane, caused some confusion yesterday when he told French radio the Taoiseach had "found someone who may satisfy not only Paris and London, but also the 23 other capitals of Europe". Mr McShane later withdrew the remark, explaining he had intended to say Mr Ahern would find an agreed candidate but had confused his French tenses.
On the issue of Mr Ahern's possible nomination as the Commission president, the Tánaiste, Ms Harney, said she had mixed views on the matter.
"One part of me says that for an Irish person to become president of the European commission would be absolutely fantastic - its a very interesting time in the union with enlargement but another part of me says he would be a huge loss here. I have a terrific working relationship with him - he's a very good person at managing a coalition government and of course the peace process in Northern Ireland.
The former Taoiseach, Mr John Bruton, said the centre-right EPP could see the Taoiseach as a "very acceptable" candidate for the presidency of the European Commission, despite the party's wish to have an EPP member selected.
Mr Bruton moved to tone down opposition to Mr Ahern expressed on Monday by an EPP spokesman, saying the Taoiseach was held "in very high esteem" in the largest grouping in the European Parliament.
The EPP spokesman had said the group had won the European elections and the Commission president should therefore come from "a member of the EPP family". He added: "Bertie Ahern doesn't fit the bill."
Fine Gael is the Irish constituent party of the EPP, while Fianna Fáil belongs to the Union of a Europe of the Nations group. However, Mr Bruton insisted this did not necessarily mean that Mr Ahern would be "blackballed" by the EPP group if his name was put forward. He said Mr Sutherland "would be one of a number of candidates from the EPP family. He is somebody who would certainly be an eligible candidate in light of the results of the elections."