Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Manuel Durao Barroso was a step away on Sunday from becoming the next president of the European Commission after European Union leaders ended weeks of wrangling to back him.
Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, said he would propose Durao Barroso for the job at a meeting of the European Council in Brussels on Tuesday.
"Over the last number of days I have been consulting extensively with colleagues, and I am very pleased to be able to confirm that there is overwhelming support for the appointment of Portuguese Prime Minister Barroso as president of the commission," Ahern said in a statement.
The appointment would end weeks of acrimonious debate over the post that pitted Britain against France and Germany, reigniting EU rivalries that had flared over the Iraq war.
EU leaders failed to agree on a new Commission president at a summit in Brussels earlier this month where a constitution for an enlarged EU bloc of 25 nations was sealed.