Portuguese leader considers EU job offer

The Portuguese Prime Minister, Mr Jose Manuel Durao Barroso, is today considering whether to accept an invitation to become the next president of the European Commission.

The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, in his role as current holder of the rotating European Union presidency, last night invited Mr Durao Barroso, a Social Democrat and multilingual lawyer,  to succeed outgoing EC President, Mr Romano Prodi, in November.

EU leaders  failed to reach agreement on a successor at a summit in Brussels last week.

Mr Ahern said this afternoon he was confident that  Mr Durao Barroso will become the successor to Mr Prodi following weeks of negotiations. Mr Ahern himself was touted as a possible candidate, although he has repeatedly said he did not want the job.

He is expected to call an EU summit next week, but he said he would only call a summit if he was sure there was consensus around a single candidate to replace Mr  Prodi.

Mr Ahern said he had to speak to "around half" of the 25 EU leaders this evening, as well as Mr Durao Barroso. "I sincerely hope I will be in a position to call the meeting to make the recommendation and get a positive decision," Mr Ahern said this afternoon during a joint press conference with Mr Prodi and the US President, Mr George Bush, after their summit in Dromoland, Co Clare.

At last week's summit in Brussels, Germany and France pressed for Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, but Britain and Italy blocked him because of his hostility to the US-led war in Iraq and their dislike for his federalist vision of the EU. The Berlin and Paris governments reacted by refusing the other camp's candidate, EU External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten.

Mr Durao Barroso fits the criteria set by France and Germany since Portugal, which joined the bloc in 1986, is a full member of all EU policies, including the euro single currency. He is also backed by the conservative European People's Party, the largest group in the European Parliament.

Spain and France had been reluctant because he hosted a summit with US President George W. Bush and key European allies in the Azores Islands on the eve of the Iraq war.

Ireland holds the rotating EU presidency until June 30th, when it hands over to the Netherlands.

Additional reporting: Agencies