GERMANY:THE BRITISH government has played down speculation that the foreign secretary, David Miliband, is planning a move to Brussels to become the European Union's next foreign policy chief.
A report in Germany's Welt am Sonntag newspaper yesterday quoted unnamed "high-ranking EU diplomats" that Mr Miliband had the backing of France and several other countries to succeed the current foreign and security policy chief, Javier Solana, next year.
A foreign office spokesman declined to comment directly on the report yesterday, saying only that the 42-year-old Miliband is, for the moment at least, "fully focused on being foreign secretary".
If the Lisbon Treaty ratification proceeds smoothly, Mr Solana is expected to assume the new EU foreign minister position next January only to stand down with the current EU commission in the autumn.
Offering Mr Miliband the foreign policy job could lift British opposition to Luxembourg's Jean-Claude Juncker becoming the EU's first permanent president.
Until now Britain was seen as the greatest stumbling block to the ambitions of Mr Juncker, long the favoured candidate for the top job in Berlin and, of late, in Paris.
Earlier this month, a French official indicated that President Nicolas Sarkozy had withdrawn his support for the other presidency frontrunner, the former British prime minister Tony Blair.
The EU foreign policy job would be another string to the bow of the precocious Mr Miliband, who has impressed European leaders since taking office last June.
Revelations of last-minute cuts by Downing Street of pro-European statements in a speech he gave last November helped Mr Miliband in Europe more than it hurt him.
In a speech last month, he said that Britain could not face global challenges alone and said the EU was the "vehicle for the expression of a foreign policy, not a threat" to British foreign policy.
German officials have welcomed Mr Miliband's enthusiasm towards Europe, particularly the contrast it provides with prime minister Gordon Brown and suspicions that the British leader is not interested in EU foreign or defence policy and is hostile to Europe.
A foreign ministry spokesperson in Berlin declined to comment on the newspaper report yesterday, but said that Mr Miliband is "always a welcome guest in Berlin".
A European posting could raise eyebrows in Whitehall: Mr Miliband, the youngest foreign secretary in 30 years, is seen as Mr Brown's most likely successor.
Mr Miliband could face stiff competition, too, from other EU heavyweights including his French counterpart, Bernard Kouchner.