Cox's chances of taking top EC post fade
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has six more states to visit as he consults prime ministers on the commission job and on the EU constitution.
His discussions have been brief in his whistle-stop tour of 18 capitals, with his colleagues giving him a clear picture of what they believe the next commission president should be like.
In some cases names have been mentioned but the majority of countries have come down in favour of having someone with previous experience of running a government, according to an Irish diplomatic source.
This would rule out European Parliament president Mr Cox, and two other commissioners who are interested, Portugal's Antonio Vitorino and Germany's Gunther Verheughen.
The French are believed to be against Britain's External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten, despite his previous experience as governor of Hong Kong.
The only two names in the contest are Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt and the Austrian PM, Wolfgang Schussel.
Former Finnish Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen is thought more likely to become a vice-president.
Much could depend on whether Mr Cox's name comes up during Mr Ahern's final tour next week when he visits France, Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany.
Mr Cox's greatest ally could yet be British Prime Minister Tony Blair who, in the event of Mr Patten not being acceptable, could resurrect the support he indicated for the Munster MEP earlier in the year.
In one of his final official jobs as parliament president, Mr Cox will address the EU heads before the start of their summit in Brussels on June 17. According to the current agenda for the meeting, the first item on the agenda after Mr Cox will be the appointment of the commission president.
If the heads of state are unable to agree on Mr Verhofstadt or Mr Schussel, a compromise candidate would have to be found.
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