Tony Blair's possible candidacy for the post of president of the European Union has run into opposition from France's political establishment despite the apparent support of President Nicolas Sarkozy for the former British prime minister.

Edouard Balladur, former premier, and Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, the ex-president who helped draw up the now defunct EU constitution, said Mr Blair was not suitable because he was too pro-American and because the UK had not joined the euro. Ben Hall, Paris