THE TAOISEACH has sought the views of his Cabinet colleagues on who should be the next Irish EU commissioner
At Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting Mr Cowen asked his ministerial colleagues for their views on who the commissioner should be but did not reveal his own thinking.
The two figures who have been most mentioned in Government circles as front runners are former president of the European Parliament Pat Cox, who played a leading role in the successful Yes campaign in the Lisbon referendum, and former minister for justice Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, whose second term as a member of the European Court of Auditors is coming to an end.
Several Ministers have said privately that Mr Cowen’s decision to appoint a Fianna Fáil TD as Ceann Comhairle has sent out a strong signal that the successor to Charlie McCreevy in the commission will not be a serving politician. The Taoiseach is expected to announce the new commissioner ahead of the two-day European Council meeting that begins on October 29th.
Ms Geoghegan-Quinn and Mr Cowen were close colleagues and were key members of the group that supported Albert Reynolds in his bid for the leadership of Fianna Fáil in the early 1990s.
The Taoiseach also confirmed yesterday he will support former British prime minister Tony Blair should he be nominated for the new position of president of the European Council.
Mr Blair has been at the forefront of speculation as to who might get the job, which is created by Lisbon Treaty. Mr Cowen told the Dáil he wanted to recognise the esteem in which Mr Blair was held in Ireland “in view of the contribution he made to bilateral relations and progress on this island”.
Mr Cowen spoke to president of the EU Commission José Manuel Barroso on the day of the referendum result. Mr Barroso has emphasised to leaders the need for gender balance on the commission.
Other names mentioned are the former Dublin MEP Eoin Ryan, Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey and former Fine Gael leader John Bruton, who is finishing his term as the EU’s ambassadorial representative in Washington.
One Minister, who wished to remain anonymous, said Mr Cowen was thinking about the appointment, and that he wanted a name to be put forward early enough to allow the Government sufficient time to lobby for a significant portfolio.
“The commissioner is going to come from the Fianna Fáil family. You can forget about John Bruton. But that does not necessarily exclude Pat Cox,” said the source.
A spokeswoman for Mr Cox said: “He has not been approached. He has no presumption. It does not mean that he would rule it out.”
Asked by Labour leader Eamon Gilmore in the Dáil yesterday about prospective candidates for the next commissioner, the Taoiseach replied: “Each member state is currently considering who they will nominate, and, for my part, I am now giving careful consideration to the matter.”