The Czech Republic late Monday named a new candidate, former communist Pavel Telicka, to serve as its future EU commissioner when the country joins the European Union in May, after its first nominee withdrew last week, Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla announced.

On Friday, the government's original candidate, former environment minister Milos Kuzvart, shocked Prague and Brussels by withdrawing his name after he had already been accepted by European Commission president Romano Prodi.

Telicka, 38, whose nomination must be approved by the European Parliament, is currently the Czech ambassador to the European Union and previously served as his country's chief negotiator on its accession to the EU.

"He is a good choice because of his experience in the European Union," Spidla told a news conference.

However, he conceded that Telicka's nomination had failed to find full support in the ruling center-left coalition.

One coalition partner, the Christian Democrat party of Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda, said it opposed Telicka's candidacy because he had been a member of the communist party before the fall of communism in the former Czechoslovakia in 1989.

Kuzvart had cited a lack of support from within his ruling center-left coalition for his decision, in particular from Svoboda.

"The minimal support from the Czech mission to the EU in Brussels as well as from the foreign ministry showed that unlike other incoming member states, here, the future (Czech) commmissioner could not count on the support he needs," Kuzvart had told the CTK news agency.

Prodi had urged Prague to name a replacement as soon as possible.

Spidla, a Social Democrat, had said in January he would put up Kuzvart as a candidate for commissioner on the EU's executive arm, but he had to overcome objections from his two centrist coalition partners who felt Kuzvart did not have enough experience.

Kuzvart has been critical of Spidla, despite being in the prime minister's party, and analysts said Spidla might have tried to remove him from the domestic political scene by proposing to send him to Brussels.

The nomination had also been questioned in the media, with several newspapers casting doubt on Kuzvart's professional and political skills.

Born in Washington D.C. to a family of diplomats, Telicka entered the foreign ministry in 1986, three years before after the fall of communism.

A father of two, he speaks English, French, German and Russian.

The Czech Republic is one of 10 countries set to join the EU on May 1, along with Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia.

The newcomers' commissioners will not have their own portfolios but will shadow the existing 20 members of the EU executive.