Tony Blair suffers dual blow in EU presidency stakes

Two days from a summit in Brussels at which EU leaders are to discuss nominations for a new, permanent post of European Council president, Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker threw his hat into the ring.

"If I were called upon, I would have no reason to refuse... on condition that there are ambitious ideas for the post," said Juncker, who also heads up the Eurogroup of 16 EU finance ministers.

Juncker said he did not oppose Blair personally, but felt that the first EU president should come from a country which has fully embraced Europe's cohesion.

Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands "have taken a position, and this goes beyond Tony Blair as a person," Juncker told France's Le Monde newspaper.

Britain has refused to adopt the euro or sign up to the passport-free Schengen travel area. It has also received an opt-out from a new charter of fundamental rights which is to be introduced if and when the bloc's Lisbon Treaty finally enters law.

"I'm not playing down areas in which the United Kingdom has been a real inspiration for Europe over the last 10 years," Juncker added.

But "Europe should be represented by someone whose main concern would be to serve it, to strive for unity around virtuous compromise, and who would not try to represent it abroad without the guarantee of internal cohesion" first.

Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini provided the second blow when he said that the choice of future president should be "unanimous and the result of consensus" among the 27 EU member states.