EU president? Make it anyone but Blair, say the Germans

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was said by an EU official "to be against" and an EU ambassador added that although Mrs Merkel admired Mr Blair, there was "great surprise" in Berlin when his name was mooted.

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He said: "The German political elite would be puzzled by the idea of Tony Blair. His track record on EU matters is not so great.

"There is unease about a Briton at the top in that job. And then personally with Blair, there's the Iraq thing."

A source close to Mrs Merkel said that Blair "made a lot of fine speeches about Europe but, essentially, stood on the sidelines when it came to concrete steps forward".

And an EU official added: "The feeling here about Blair is that he never stuck his neck out for Europe. All the political risk he took was transatlantic."

As well as concerns about his support for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and deep-seated Euro-scepticism in the UK, Mr Blair has also met fierce resistance for failing to scrap the pound in favour of the euro, Britain's opt-out of Europe's border-free travel zone and the determination not to surrender four important "red lines" when signing up to the EU Treaty in December last year.

At the same time, an online "Stop Blair" petition has already managed to collect 20,000 names in protest against Mr Blair's nomination.

The petition, at www.stopblair.eu, was set up by Jerome Guillet, a Parisbased investment banker who hopes to collect one million signatures and hole Mr Blair's candidacy beneath the water line.

Pro-European Mr Guillet said: "Tony Blair embodies many things we do not like.

"He is universally reviled.

"This is not the rest of Europe against Britain.

"It is against him and what he stands for, especially that he is too close to GeorgeWBush."

French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been a prominent supporter of Mr Blair as EU president, a post created by the reform treaty to represent

the 27 member states. But the former Labour Party leader's strongest suit against other lesser-known contenders is that he is a "brand".

Mr Blair has signalled he is interested in the job but campaigning is not expected to begin until the summer, after a June summit of EU leaders agree a job description.

The role of the EU president, who will sit for five years, is expected to be clarified by EU ambassadors at a meeting next month.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown's explicit endorsement of Mr Blair is seen as essential and an EU diplomat said: "We will only know that Mr Blair is a serious candidate when Mr Brown gives clear support."