Britain and Ireland could be forced to share one European Commission seat

Britain would be forced to share a European Commissioner with Ireland under plans being drawn up by France.

With France now at the helm of the six-month rotating EU Presidency, President Nicholas Sarkozy is looking for ways to cut the number of national representatives in the European Commission.

But critics say it is a back door plan to reduce our influence in Europe, and that it proves the EU wants to push on with the Lisbon Treaty despite its rejection by the Irish.

At the moment, there are 27 commissioners, one for each member state  -  ensuring each country has a voice at the top level of European decisionmaking.

Britain's commissioner is Peter Mandelson, the former trade minister who was forced to resign from Tony Blair's Cabinet twice.

But President Sarkozy says 27 is too many, and has suggested that countries with similar cultural backgrounds should be prepared to share a commissioner  -  citing the UK and Ireland as an example.

This is despite the fact that Britain is one of the largest contributors to EU coffers.

And there is no mention of France having to share, even though it has a very similar population to the UK.

Neil O'Brien at Open Europe, the Eurosceptic think tank, said: 'It would be barmy to try and force countries to share commissioners.

'The Irish don't want to have Peter Mandelson as their commissioner any more than most people in Britain do.

'It is a bizarre idea to shoehorn countries into cultural groups with which they might not feel any identification.'

Philip Davies, Tory MP for Shipley, said: 'We are handing over more and more money every year, and in return they are stripping away any remaining influence we have.

'Only a few months ago, Sarkozy was talking about the strength of the relationship between Britain and France, and now he is pushing this idea.'

France, which now holds the rotating European presidency, says a reduction in the number of commissioners is required because the necessity to allocate 27 jobs to appointees from each EU member is becoming unwieldy.

Government sources in Paris, quoted in the German newspaper Die Welt, said: 'Countries which share a common cultural heritage, such as Germany and Austria, Great Britain and Ireland or the Benelux countries could share a common commissioner.'

Plans to reduce the number of commissioners were contained in the Lisbon Treaty. Small countries such as Ireland-argue that they should be allowed to keep their commissioner to help safeguard their influence in the EU.

Mark Francois, Tory Europe spokesman, said: 'This is clearly part of a plan to try and bully and cajole the Irish people to have another referendum on Lisbon.'

Nigel Farage, of the UK Independence Party, said the plan was ludicrous and 'another clear example of why being in the EU does us no good'.

The idea is also being treated with suspicion in Brussels, with officials pointing out that many EU countries which share the same language and culture have had uncomfortable pasts.

The Foreign Office said it opposed the French plan.

But a spokesman added: 'In general, the UK supports a reduction in the number of EU commissioners. Now that the EU has reached 27 members, we need to streamline the Commission to ensure it can deliver against the priorities the EU needs to tackle.'