THE SPANISH government has nominated foreign minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos for the post of EU foreign policy chief, a move that suggests the bloc's leaders remain deadlocked over the appointment with only one day to go before a crucial summit tomorrow night.
Mr Moratinos's arrival as a late runner in the race for the foreign post comes amid lingering political divisions among EU leaders over the candidacy of Belgian prime minister Herman Van Rompuy for the presidency of the European Council.
As British prime minister Gordon Brown continues to promote his predecessor Tony Blair for the presidency of the council, a widening range of candidates are now lining up for the foreign affairs position.
Still vying for primacy in the battle for that job are former Italian prime minister Massimo D'Alema, EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn and Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt.
After more than a fortnight of haggling, this suggests EU leaders have still not started to coalesce behind a single candidate for either job.
The foreign policy chief will also serve as a vice-president of the European Commission, meaning that commission president José Manuel Barroso cannot start to allocate posts on the incoming executive until that job is settled.
Swedish prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, who called the dinner summit to achieve unity among divided EU leaders, now faces a race against the clock to meet his objective of proposing a single candidate for each of the posts.
While Sweden's rotating presidency of the EU insists that such a deal is within its grasp, there is speculation that the summit may continue into Friday if the deadlock persists on Thursday night.
Minister of State for Europe Dick Roche said Mr Reinfeldt was still trying to achieve unanimity over the jobs, but he accepted yesterday that consensus was proving very difficult to achieve.
"They're obviously still trying to broker arrangements and remember the British are still very firm on Tony Blair," Mr Roche said in Brussels.
"I think they would like as we've had in the past - if at all possible - unanimous candidates. But there's no sign, or no straws, that would suggest that that's going to be the case."
Asked if Mr Reinfeldt had a realistic prospect of avoiding a qualified majority vote of EU leaders with a unanimous decision, Mr Roche said: "I think that's his hope, I don't think at this stage that that is the case."
Mr Moratinos is being promoted by Spanish prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. "Miguel Ángel Moratinos has been proposed and is one of the names being mentioned," Mr Zapatero told a news conference in Madrid.
"I have the highest opinion of Mr Moratinos, he is an excellent foreign minister." Mr Moratinos is a career diplomat who has served as EU special representative for the Middle East.
Mr Zapatero's decision to publicise his candidacy at this point in the process was seen in political circles as a clear mark of deep divisions in the ranks of EU leaders.
Well-informed observers also said Mr Moratinos was perceived as a figure from the old order of EU international diplomacy, a flawed system that the strengthened foreign policy post created under the Lisbon Treaty was designed to supersede.
His candidacy could be seen as a sign that some of the rival candidates may not be able to achieve enough support from EU leaders.
If Mr Moratinos was appointed, he would displace EU monetary affairs commissioner Joaquin Almunia from the EU's executive as each member state can have only one representative on the European Commission.
Mr Almunia has supported the Irish Government's efforts to stabilise the public finances.
