Europeans quiz Bush's choice for World Bank boss

EU officials quizzed World Bank president nominee Paul Wolfowitz on his development agenda today, while France pushed for more European influence in the delivery of global aid.

The bank’s executive board now has 24 directors – 11 Europeans, including seven from the European Union.

On Thursday, the board is to vote on Wolfowitz, now the US deputy defence secretary, who has been put forward as the World Bank’s next chief by US President George Bush.

His nomination was met with lukewarm support in Europe capitals, where officials have trouble reconciling Wolfowitz’s history as an architect of the Iraq war with the needs of the developing world.

Critics have described him as having a reputation for unilateralism and lack of development experience.

To date, only Germany, Britain and Italy have publicly backed him.

Wolfowitz held talks in Brussels today with Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, whose country holds the EU presidency, and EU finance and development officials from the Netherlands, Britain, France, Germany and Sweden - major donors of development aid.

“We have to make sure that Europeans will be represented in a better way on the managing board” of the World Bank, Juncker said before the meeting.

The US, as the bank’s largest shareholder, traditionally puts forward a candidate to lead the bank, which the board usually accepts.

France, however, plans to nominate Jean-Pierre Jouyet, 51, chairman of the Paris Cub – an international debt-relief agency – to hold a proposed new post of deputy World Bank president.

Five of the World Bank directors – one each from the US, Japan, Germany, France and Britain – are directly appointed by their governments.

The other 19 are elected by world bank nations and represent groups of countries or regions.