Brussels, 02/07/2002 (Agence Europe) - In an interview with The Financial Times, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who has been President-in-Office of the European Council since 1 July, took a stance, as other leaders of "small" countries had done before him, against the proposals put forward by the French President, Jacques Chirac, and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. The French and British leaders' plan is to create a high-profile post to give the EU more political direction and to represent Europe on the world stage. The Danish Prime Minister said it would be inevitable that the new Council President would come from one of the larger EU members. "I'm not in favour of a president of the Council serving a term of five years, because such a proposal tends to favour big countries", he told the British paper, adding that "equal treatment for big and small countries is essential for us".