European leaders failed to reach a common stance on a single nomination for head of the EU Commission, due to be vacant in November.
British Chris Patten has emerged as the favourite candidate of the centre-right European People's Party for Commission president after a meeting of its leaders on Friday morning.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been mandated to present the Irish EU Presidency with the name this evening.
Peter Hintze, secretary general of the German Christian Democrat Union, told journalists afterwards that Italy had been chosen to put forward the name because it had to come from a big country.
Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, who is currently at the helm of the EU, is to propose one name this evening - most likely that of liberal Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt.