Although no decision on the appointment of the European Union's first full-time President was taken at last week's EU summit it seems that Tony Blair's chances for this post have encountered serious problems. Blair is opposed by many of his supposed centre-left 'allies' and support from France and Germany is said to be declining.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown made an impassioned appeal to his fellow social democrats at the summit for them to support Blair saying: "You need to get real. This is a unique opportunity to get a strong progressive politician to be President of the Council." However, it seems that Mr Brown's plea had little impact.

Blair is hampered by three main issues: his record in office, the fact that the precise nature of this job still has to be defined by the EU and the opposition to his appointment by the British Conservatives, who are expected to win next year's election in the UK.

The Conservatives' antagonism towards Blair smacks of excessive partisanship and one would have expected them to back a fellow national for such an important post. After all, when Jose Manual Barroso, who comes from a centre-right background, was seeking re-election as President of the European Commission, he was supported by the Portuguese and Spanish Socialist MEPs. The Conservatives' stand on Blair seems petty and does not augur well for a future Tory government.

The main argument against Blair is his support for the war in Iraq and his close association with President George Bush when he was in office. This is a valid point: the war divided Europe, the decision to go to war was based on false information and the war itself broke Iraq as a state and a society and created a massive jihadi insurgency in a country which had no history of jihadism. This is certainly a difficult legacy to defend.

Blair's European record has also been under scrutiny and is being used against him. Here the arguments are not so straightforward. True, Britain remains outside the Eurozone and Schengen and Blair made little effort as Prime Minister to change things. However, whether these opt-outs should disqualify him from being appointed EU President is certainly debateable.

Another argument used against Blair is that he did little as Prime Minister to change the attitude of a highly eurosceptic public. It is true that after his 1997 landslide electoral victory he had a huge opportunity to shape public opinion on Europe. The divisions over Europe that had characterised previous Conservative governments were a thing of the past and Britain was winning many of the arguments within the EU. Today, however, the UK remains a highly eurosceptic nation.

Blair is being criticised for failing to show leadership over Europe and of pandering to the eurosceptic press as well as for not integrating Britain further into the EU. However, one of the first things Blair did as Prime Minister was to sign up to the Maastricht Treaty's Social Chapter, which the previous Conservative government had opted out of.

Blair also supported more of a global role for the EU, so he did differ from other UK administrations over Europe. Of course, dealing with the British anti-EU media must have been very difficult for Blair, but the question remains whether politicians should be shaped by public opinion or whether they should try and shape public opinion themselves.

Whatever one thinks of Blair's record as Prime Minister, the most important factor in this equation is what type of President the EU feels it needs. There are two options being considered: The first is that the President of the European Council should be a high-profile political heavyweight who would be able to give the EU a strong voice on the global scene and act as a counterweight to China and America. Of all the candidates mentioned so far Blair is certainly the most suitable one in this category.

The other possibility is that the President should be someone who really understands how the EU functions, is able to forge a consensus within the bloc and possesses strong coalition-building skills. In this case, the President's main role would be to make the European Council work in a more efficient manner and not necessarily to raise the EU's international profile.

The most qualified candidate for a job of this nature is probably Luxembourg's Prime Minister, Jean-Claude Juncker, but other candidates such as Dutch Prime Minister Jean Peter Balkenende and former Finnish Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen also stand a good chance.

The decision over who Malta should support will certainly not be an easy one for Lawrence Gonzi as he enjoys excellent relations with both Blair and Juncker.

In reality, the EU needs a President who possesses both qualities: an ability to give the bloc a higher profile internationally as well as to be able to build coalitions and forge a consensus within the European Council. So some sort of compromise or a surprise candidate emerging is possible, which is so typical of the EU.