Oostenrijkse kanselier Schüssel in de race voor Commissie-voorzitterschap (en)

Austrian chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel is to make an official visit to France - the first since being put out into the cold after a far-right party joined his government in 2000.

According to Austrian paper Die Presse, a meeting between the Chancellor and French president Jacques Chirac will take place sometime in spring - although the exact date has yet to be set.

Mr Schüssel said he sees the invitation as a "positive signal". Vienna had extended an open invitation for French leaders to visit for some months.

But this is the first time it has been reciprocated since the other 14 member states slapped sanctions on Austria when it took Jorg Haider's far-right party into government in February 2000.

Future job at the head Commission?

However, there may be other more career oriented things on Mr Schüssel's mind when he has his bilateral with Mr Chirac.

According to various media reports, Mr Schüssel is one of those in contention for the post of Commission President after Romano Prodi finishes in November.

"The European career is approaching: Schüssel is visiting Chirac", said the headline in Tuesday's edition of Die Presse.

But the same newspaper also carried a headline a few days earlier saying "Schüssel has no chance". The article quoted French MEP Charles Pasqua, long close to Mr Chirac, as saying that Mr Schüssel has "no chance".

The main reason being his brief government partnership with Jorg Haider.

The question of who will be the next Commission president is one of the hottest themes in the EU at the moment.

Other names in the hat include Luxembourg prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker, former Finnish premier Paavo Lipponen and justice and home affairs commissioner Antonio Vitorino.

According to Finnish press, Irish prime minister and current head of the EU Bertie Ahern has said that a Commission President would not be chosen before it is absolutely necessary - that is, in the final weeks before the summer EU summit in June.

He also said that he is conducting private and confidential discussions over the Commission Presidency with different EU countries.