Brussels, 11/06/2004 (Agence Europe) - During the G8 Summit at Sea Island, the European Council President Bertie Ahern and European Commission President Romano Prodi answered President George Bush who asked them where the enlarged Europe was heading. The Irish Prime Minister mainly spoke of negotiations on the European Constitution, the president of the Commission, and the EU's neighbourhood policy after enlargement to ten new Member States (Ireland is not part of the G8, but the president of the European Council, like the Commission President, are invited to summits).
At Sea Island, Bertie Ahern also met the four European G8 leaders separately (France, Germany, United Kingdom and Italy), and he discussed with them about the problem of Romano Prod's succession at the head of the European Commission, a question that remains to be resolved just one week from the European Council in Brussels, mainly because of British reservation about two candidates backed by France and Germany , although the two in question - Belgian and Luxembourg Prime Ministers Guy Verhofstadt and Jean-Claude Juncker - say they are not interested. According to the Italian press, these separate consultations were followed by a four-way meeting without Bertie Ahern's participation. The meeting, however, after its over-zealous announcement by Silvio Berlusconi, was cancelled.