Italy's foreign minister has told colleagues he will be Rome's new candidate for the European Commission, according to a government source, but Prime Minister Mr Silvio Berlusconi is taking his time before announcing it.
Mr Berlusconi's initial choice for the Commission, Mr Rocco Buttiglione, withdrew his nomination at the weekend after his conservative Roman Catholic views fell foul of the European Parliament.
Foreign Minister Mr Franco Frattini told his inner circle on a flight to Moscow today that he would soon be headed to Brussels, a government source told reporters.
"Frattini talked about his next job in the European Commission, taking the switch for granted and lingering on the positive comments he has received on a continental level from members of other EU governments," the source said.
A separate government source said Mr Berlusconi, hadn't named his new EU candidate because he was negotiating the major cabinet reshuffle it would entail.
Mr Buttiglione's retreat represented a blow for Berlusconi, with critics saying it reflected badly on his government's diplomatic standing within the European Union.
But it also offered the prime minister the tantalising prospect of shifting some of the pieces in his argumentative government in a bid to settle long-running disputes that have periodically pushed his coalition to the edge of collapse.
Such a move would enable Mr Berlusconi to appoint deputy prime minister Mr Gianfranco Fini as Italy's foreign minister, ending grumbling with Mr Fini's party, the conservative National Alliance, that it does not have enough top jobs in the cabinet.