Van Rompuy, left, the Belgian prime minister, is considered a frontrunner for the post [EPA]

Under the Lisbon Treaty, the European Union will soon appoint a president of the council of EU leaders to represent the bloc in the world and chair EU summits.

After the signing of the treaty by the Czech Republic, the final step in the charter's ratification, there has been much speculation about potential candidates.

Although he has not declared his candidacy, Blair has long been considered a front runner, backed by those who want a heavyweight in international diplomacy to strengthen the bloc's global influence. 

Some people find Blair problematic due to his support for the US-led invasion of Iraq [AFP]

But diplomats say Sarkozy still favours the former British prime minister and Bernard Kouchner, France's foreign minister, this week supported Blair's candidacy. 

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, has not stated a position on Blair and her views could be decisive.

Some people find Blair, 55, problematic because of his support for the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Several members of the European parliament are gathering signatures under a petition to rule Blair out and Britain's opposition Conservatives, who are favourites in opinion polls to win power next year, oppose his candidacy as a "hostile act". 

Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Poland favour a candidate who would chair and moderate debates rather than play any independent role. 

Van Rompuy, 62, was appointed prime minister of Belgium in December 2008, having previously been president of the lower house of parliament since July 2007.

Van Rompuy has helped calm his linguistically divided country [EPA]

There are concerns that should he become president Belgium risks a return to political deadlock and heightened tensions between French- and Dutch-speakers, with no obvious candidate to replace him.

Geertrui Van Rompuy, his wife, has confirmed that he would like to be considered for the post but repeated the official Belgian line that he is required as prime minister.

He is a keen poet, best known for his haikus, a 17 syllable form of Japanese poetry.

Juncker was considered a leading candidate until recent spats with Merkel and Sarkozy over bank secrecy laws.

Juncker has said he thought he would not have much chance of getting the job [AFP]

Le Monde, the French newspaper, quoted Juncker as saying in an interview that he would listen favourably to calls to serve as president.

But the chairman of the group of finance ministers whose countries use the euro later denied putting his name forward.

Juncker, 54, said in an interview published on Thursday he thought he would not have much chance of getting the job if he were a candidate.

Underlining the need for a leader committed to consensus, he told the Luxembourger Wort: "This [post] is not about personal glory or taking an ego trip into extra time."

Balkenende, who has emerged as a potential compromise candidate, has spent the past few years boosting the role of the Netherlands - a founding EU member - on the world stage, recently negotiating invitations to G8 and G20 summits.

Balkenende has emerged as a potential compromise candidate [AP]

He became the CDA's financial spokesman and was also involved with social affairs, justice, and domestic affairs.

In this role he advocated a substantial reduction of the national debt and sound public finances.

He was elected chairman of the CDA in 2001 and has been prime minister since 2002.

Karel De Gucht, a former Belgian foreign minister and now EU humanitarian and development commissioner, once described the bespectacled 53-year-old centre-right politician as being "a mix of Harry Potter and [having] a petty, rigid, bourgeois mentality".

Called "the Iron Lady of the East" by some politicians, Vike-Freiberga, 71, steered her former Soviet republic into Nato and the EU as president for two terms between 1999 and 2007.

Vike-Freiberga's family fled the Soviet occupation of Latvia after World War II [AP]

She returned to Latvia from Canada in 1998, becoming president the following year. 

Vike-Freiberga has no party affiliation, considers herself a centrist and backed the US-led war on Iraq.

Lithuania's foreign minister, Vygaudas Usackas, said she would be "a dynamic new face for Europe, with robust, strategic visions".

An outside candidate, her country has been hard hit by the global economic crisis. 

Spain has lobbied on behalf of Gonzalez, who was the country's prime minister from 1982 until 1996, but his chances appear to have receded as he has not been in power for many years.

In 2007, EU leaders showed their respect for the Spanish socialist by naming him to lead a group of "wise men" to draw up a vision of how the EU might look between 2020 and 2030. 

A former journalist, Lipponen was prime minister of Finland from 1995 to 2003, and introduced the concept of a European constitution in a speech in 2000.

The 68-year-old former chairman of the Finnish Social Democratic Party underlined his vision for the presidential job in an article in the Financial Times, a British newspaper, on Thursday, saying the new president's main role would be internal, building consensus.

"In this co-ordinating role he or she should have time to listen to the member governments and deal with possible problems as a troubleshooter," he said.

Irish media say Bruton, who is now the EU's ambassador to the United States, has put his name forward for the job in a letter to ambassadors of EU countries in Washington.

Bruton, 62, was Ireland's prime minister from 1994 to 1997 and is nearing the end of his term in the US capital.