Spidla, Rasmussen reject proposal for EU president

The Czech Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla and his Danish counterpart Anders Fogh Rasmussen say they oppose a plan to create the post of President of the European Union. Mr Rasmussen, visiting Prague, said he was sceptical towards the idea, proposed by the chairman of the EU Convention on the future of Europe, Valery Giscard D'Estaing. The Danish prime minister said a full-time EU president - who would represent the EU internationally and chair meetings of the EU Council of Ministers - would lead to big member states having greater power over smaller ones. Prime Minister Spidla said Czech and Danish attitudes to the future of the EU were extremely close.