Ahern says Cox not in front line for EU top job

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern firmly ruled himself out of the running for the job as President of the European Commission and also implicitly accepted that Pat Cox was not among the front runners.

Mr Ahern said that while other European leaders had encouraged him to take the job, he didn’t particularly want to go to Brussels and that his primary commitment was to Ireland and to his role as Taoiseach.

“I have a lot of people who would like to see me (become President), there’s no doubt about that,” he said, in an interview with RTE’s Charlie Bird in Mexico, during the EU summit with South and Latin American countries.

Mr Ahern said that some other EU leaders believed he had the necessary qualities to become Romano Prodi’s successor.

“They want a person who can strive for consensus. They want to see a person who’s not in your face. They want to see a person who’s bringing together the different areas from the South and North of Europe, who understands them and who’s been around the block for a while,” he said.

But he went on to say that notwithstanding a financial package worth over €1 million per annum, he was not attracted to the position.

“I think you have to do things you want to do and I have a commitment to my party and to my job as Taoiseach.

“I have a commitment to being in Ireland. I like being in Ireland and I don’t particularly want to be in Brussels,” he said.

Mr Ahern has so far canvassed 18 of the 25 EU leaders for their views on whom they deem best suited to become Mr Prodi’s successor.

On Pat Cox’s prospects, he said: “It depends on whether people get into vetoes and blocks.

“As of now, one or two people have a clear advantage (over Mr Cox).

Asked if Mr Cox was effectively out of the race, he replied: “He’s in the race but I think Pat knows himself that he’s behind the main runners.”

The front-runners for the job include Belgian prime minister, Guy Verhofstadt, the British EU Commissioner Chris Patten and the Portuguese Commissioner, Antonio Vitorino.

Mr Ahern was non-committal when asked about his opinion on the next Irish Commissioner, saying he had not thought about it as yet, but that he would make a decision in the coming weeks.

“It’s too soon because we have to see the balance. We have to see who gets the Presidency of the Commission,” he said.

“I have a number of colleagues who would make tremendous commissioners, within the Cabinet.”