Dehaene en Juncker géén kandidaat voor voorzitterschap nieuwe Commissie (en)

Two of the frontrunners for the top job in the EU - the president of the European Commission - have apparently ruled themselves out of the race.

Former Belgian prime minister Jean-Luc Dehaene, whose candidature was torpedoed ten years ago by the UK as he was considered "too federalist", said on Tuesday (9 March) that "remakes are the worst films that there are".

Similarly, Jean-Claude Juncker, the Luxembourg prime minister whose name has been mentioned most frequently as a possible successor to Romano Prodi said, at the same press conference in Brussels, "I will not be in the Commission".

Other names in the hat include justice and home affairs Commissioner Antonio Vitorino, former Finnish prime minister Paavo Lipponen and Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel.

However, Mr Schüssel faces some big obstacles due to his decision in 2000 to go into power with far-right leader Jörg Haider.

A postponed visit to French President Jacques Chirac until later this year - it will be the first since Mr Schüssel formed that coalition government - has led Austrian papers to speculate that he will not get the support for the job.

But he may face stiffer opposition than the press.

Speaking in Strasbourg yesterday, the leader of the socialists in the European Parliament, Enrique Baron Crespo, said his group could not support a candidate who chose to go into coalition with Mr Haider.