The former Taoiseach, Mr John Bruton, is the frontrunner to become the EU's representative in Washington this summer. The External Affairs Commissioner, Mr Chris Patten, is proposing Mr Bruton as the best candidate to raise the EU's political profile in the United States.
Mr Patten has discussed the appointment with a number of EU governments, but Commission sources say that Mr Bruton's candidature has yet to win the approval of the Commission president, Mr Romano Prodi, and the commissioner responsible for personnel, Mr Neil Kinnock.
The Commission's delegation in Washington has traditionally been led by a senior official, but EU foreign ministers agreed last summer at a private lunch near the Greek port of Thessaloniki that Europe needed a figure with political experience to raise the EU's profile, particularly in Congress.
The decision to appoint a political figure to Washington followed a discussion of transatlantic relations following the Iraq crisis, which was led by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen.
Mr Cowen told EU foreign ministers that the EU needed to cultivate political contacts in Washington if it hoped to influence future US administrations.
A Commission source confirmed that Mr Patten had already won the backing of a number of EU governments for Mr Bruton's appointment. Mr Patten is understood to have taken Ireland's close relationship with the US into account in choosing his candidate.
Mr Bruton, who chaired Ireland's previous EU presidency in 1996, was a member of the Praesidium of the Convention on the Future of Europe, which drew up the EU's draft constitutional treaty.
Commission sources say that Mr Prodi's hesitation in backing Mr Bruton is linked to the future of the Commission's secretary general, Mr David O'Sullivan.
Mr O'Sullivan, who previously served as Mr Prodi's chef de cabinet, is expected to leave his post before the present Commission's term ends later this year.
Among the jobs Mr O'Sullivan has been tipped for is the head of the EU's delegation in Washington, regarded as one of the most attractive posts available to Commission officials.
The foreign ministers' proposal to appoint a politician to Washington is in line with a plan in the draft constitutional treaty to create an EU foreign minister who would sit in both the Commission and the Council of Ministers.
Mr Bruton declined to comment when contacted last night.
Mark Brennock adds:
If Mr Bruton is appointed to the position, it would end any slim hopes Fine Gael has of persuading him to run in the European Parliament elections in June. Mr Bruton has said he is not interested in contesting the election.
Mr Bruton's Dáil constituency of Meath is expected to be split in two following the recent report of the Constituency Commission. His political base would suit him for the new Meath East constituency. Should he be appointed to the EU job the party would have to find another candidate for Meath East.
