Majority of west Europeans back big name for EU president

(LONDON) - An overall majority of voters in five major west European countries believe the European Union needs a high-profile figure as its first president, according to a poll published Monday.

The Harris survey in the Financial Times showed that more than 75 percent of French, Italian and Spanish voters wanted a big name for the job that has not yet been created, while 50 percent of British voters supported the idea.

In Germany, 45 percent of voters backed the idea, while 47 percent opposed it.

Monday's survey deals a blow to Luxembourg's prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who polled above one percent in just one of the five countries, Germany, as well as Danish premier Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who did not receive more than two percent support in any of them.

Only German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former British prime minister Tony Blair received significant poll support outside of their home countries, according to the FT, with 18 percent and 12 percent of French voters backing the two respectively.

Separately, the poll also found that voters in France, Italy and Germany supported Kosovo's recent declaration of independence from Serbia by a clear majority, while 48 percent of British voters and 45 percent of Americans also backed the move.

Only in Spain was there significant opposition to the declaration, with more than a third of voters disagreeing with it.

Harris questioned 1,122 voters in France, 1,125 in Germany, 1,109 in Britain, 1,054 in Spain, 1,011 in Italy and 1,057 in the United States over the Internet between February 27 and March 6 for the poll.