(PARIS) - Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker is emerging as a early favourite to become the European Union's first president, according to a source close to the French presidency.

With a round of EU horse-trading getting underway to fill the bloc's top jobs next year, some of Europe's top political thoroughbreds are jockeying to secure an early leads.

While Juncker has already won broad support, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has wide backing for a second mandate in charge of the EU's executive arm, the same French source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

With both jobs up for grabs next year, the source said that in the current state of play "the two of them are very widely favoured" for filling the EU's top posts.

"The only eventual surprise would be a swap between the two," the source added.

If ratified by all 27 member countries this year, the EU's new Lisbon treaty will create a new post for a president of the European Council of member governments, aimed at giving the bloc bigger profile both in Europe and abroad.

Although countries will only decide who fills the prestigious job at the end of this year during France's presidency of the 27-nation bloc, discussions are already underway.

As the longest serving leader of an EU country, Juncker has won respect over the years among his peers for his firm grasp of often complex European law and finding compromises during the bloc's periodic all-night wrangling sessions.

"Juncker and Barroso are the most credible names on the table for the moment. It's revolving around that," the source said, acknowledging opposition to Juncker in London, where he is seen as being too much in favour of a more federal EU.

However, other names are circulating, including former Austrian premier Wolfgang Schuessel as well as Danish Prime Minister Ander Fogh Rasmussen, although he would prefer to head NATO, according to Paris.

Former British prime minister Tony Blair has often been cited as a possible EU president although Britain's opt-outs from key EU projects such as the euro and Schengen visa-free zone do not help any British candidate.

Moreover, Blair's support for the US-led war in Iraq, which deeply divided Europe in the past, has also not been forgotten in some capitals.

While European Socialists are in particular opposed to Blair becoming EU president, he has not been totally excluded either.

"The English shouldn't be ostracised. It would be a big mistake to think that just because Great Britain is eurosceptic they shouldn't get any posts," the French source said.

The negotiations about who will become the EU's first president are complicated by the fact that Barroso current mandate as president of the European Commission expires next year.

On top of that, the EU's foreign policy chief -- currently held by Spaniard Javier Solana -- also has to be filled. The post will also take on more prestige as its powers are boosted under the new treaty.

The foreign policy chief's post "will be the adjustable variable" in the discussions, the source said.

Although things could evolve over the course of the year, if Juncker and Barroso -- both conservatives -- are chosen, then "we would not be able to pass up a Socialist" for the foreign policy chief's job in order to reflect the balance of European politics, the source said.

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