08/05/2003 (Agence Europe) - In an article in the Financial Times on Wednesday, the European External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten feels "an elected president of Europe, supported by a directoire of senior prime ministers would concentrate too much power in the three big Member States that would inevitably dominate the most intergovernmental part of the EU's structure". He went on: "it is no surprise that the idea is championed by the biggest countries". "The creation of a president would diminish the importance and effectiveness of the proposed EU foreign minister. The idea of combining my present job with that of Javier Solana, the EU's high representative, is a perfectly sensitive one. But where is the logic of amalgamating the two posts to avoid friction or confusion and then creating even more friction and confusion at a higher level between a full-time Council president and the president of the Commission?".