Britain torpedoes Verhofstadt

Britain torpedoed Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt's bid for the European Commission presidency yesterday, plunging the search for a new head of the EU executive into disarray on the eve of a crucial summit.

Heavyweights France and Germany publicly back the Flemish Liberal, a keen federalist supporter of European integration, but diplomats said several EU states, notably those who supported the US-led war in Iraq, oppose him.

"The UK does not support Mr Verhofstadt for the presidency of the Commission," a senior British official told reporters.

He declined to give grounds other than to say "for the very obvious reason that we don't think he's the right person to be the next head of the Commission".

Although Britain has no formal veto, the pre-emptive strike exactly 10 years after London vetoed another Belgian for the Commission presidency, appeared to kill Mr Verhofstadt's prospects of succeeding Italy's Romano Prodi in November, diplomats said.

It also indirectly increased pressure on Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker to enter the race by highlighting deadlock among EU leaders ahead of a two-day summit that is also due to approve a first constitution for the enlarged bloc.

But Mr Juncker, 49, a centre-right Christian Democrat, insisted again he did not want the EU hot seat after winning re-election to run the 450,000-strong Grand Duchy on Sunday.

"I'm having to take lots of European phone calls at the moment," he told local RTL radio. "The pressure is enormous, but I'm not letting myself be pressured. I don't like to be impolite so I'm taking each call and then saying 'no'."

The British official said Prime Minister Tony Blair wanted leaders to have a serious discussion about the nature of the job and "the range of people who may be available to do the job".

But Irish EU envoy Anne Anderson said Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, who will chair the summit after taking private soundings, thought it was more productive to put forward a single nominee.

"I believe he would feel that it would be more conducive to an outcome if he were to make a specific recommendation rather than to invite his colleagues to address a range of options," she told reporters.

She mentioned no name, but diplomats had been expecting him to propose Mr Verhofstadt at the 25 leaders' dinner today.

Diplomats say the choice may have to be postponed until next month unless Mr Juncker, Europe's longest-serving head of government, makes himself available.

Mr Prodi also appeared to rule out Mr Verhofstadt when he told a news conference there was no majority so far for a candidate to succeed him at the Commission's helm for the next five years.

Mr Ahern said this month that Mr Juncker would have overwhelming support if he were willing to run, although some diplomats say Britain is just as unhappy with his federalist view of EU integration as it is about Mr Verhofstadt.

Mr Prodi said a second failure to agree on a constitution could further undermine public confidence after mass abstentions and gains for eurosceptics in European Parliament elections.

Diplomats said prospects of a deal were rising, not least because of the shock of the record low election turnout. The question was whether Mr Blair and Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka were in a strong enough domestic position to accept compromises.

Mr Blair has gambled on calling a referendum to ratify the constitutional treaty and is demanding that EU leaders meet his "red lines" to maintain national vetoes on decisions on tax, social security, foreign policy and criminal justice.

Britain is also demanding stronger guarantees that a Charter of Fundamental Rights to be incorporated in the constitution will not give Britons any new rights, for example to strike.