The countdown was on Tuesday to find a new president for the European Commission after Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, under pressure to finalize the EU constitution, ruled himself out of the race.

Ahern, whose country currently holds the European Union presidency, once again stressed at the weekend he was not in the running to take the top spot at the EU executive arm after the Italian Romano Prodi stands down in October.

"I have a commitment to my party and a commitment to the job as Taoiseach (Irish prime minister), and a commitment to being in Ireland," he said on Sunday.

"I like being in Ireland and I don't particularly want to be in Brussels."

One potential sticking point to Ahern's nomination had been that, being the one in charge of the current EU presidency, he is officially tasked with finding a candidate for the job.

"I have a lot of people who would like to see me take (the job)," he conceded.

No single candidate from the 25 member states has emerged as a natural to take over from Prodi in the post, which according to EU tradition should be led by a standing or former prime minister.

Three contenders, all current prime ministers, are however most commonly cited as prospective presidential material: Belgium's Guy Verhofstadt; Denmark's Anders Fogh Rasmussen; and Wolfgang Schuessel of Austria.

Verhofstadt, a Flemish Liberal, leads the pack with reported backing by EU heavyweights France and Germany. But Britain, fearing too much influence from its EU rivals, could sink the deal.

Rasmussen and Schuessel are equally weighted as the second choice, say EU insiders, but they both have potential political flaws which could sink their nomination.

Some EU sources complain that the Austrian created a ruling coalition with the extreme-right Freedom Party of firebrand Joerg Haider. Rasmussen's Denmark is not part of the 12-country eurozone.

An "outsider" could still emerge in the running, but it will not be Ahern, said a government source in Dublin.

Leaders of the 25 EU member states are to discuss who will succeed Prodi at their June 17-18 summit in Brussels.

Ireland has been intensely focussed on clinching approval for the EU constitution during its tenure, which ends in June.

Efforts to reach agreement on the historic text, which would help structure the bloc that added 10 members to reach 25 in May, have been marked by two years of wrangling.

An effort to finalize negotiations ended in failure at an EU summit in December when Poland and Spain refused to accept a reformed voting system.

Ahern, 52, is respected as a savvy negotiator after having participated in the historic Good Friday peace agreement for Northern Ireland in 1998.

Those qualities could come in handy in Brussels, he admitted.

"I think they want a person who can strive for consensus. They want to see somebody that's not in your face," Ahern said.