This poses a special challenge for Mr Blair, who, in less than two weeks' time, will take over from Mr Juncker as EU president for six months...

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Italy is potentially at risk of being engulfed by the euro crisis, as Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the euro group of finance ministers, has pointed out.

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Former Spanish prime minister Felipe Gonzalez, a socialist, is seen as a potential rival to Mr Blair, as is Jean-Claude Juncker, the veteran centre-right Luxembourg prime minister.

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The Eurogroup, headed by Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, asked the Greek political class to support the reform package accepted as a condition of the original EU-IMF bailout.

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"We are aiming at reaching a formal agreement in the second half of July, taking into account national parliamentary procedure, allowing for a first disbursement of 30 billion euros by the end of the month to be mobilized as a contingency in case of urgent needs in the Spanish banking system, " Juncker said in a statement to reporters after the meeting.

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Almost comically, a current favourite is the Belgian prime minister of less than a year's standing, the unknown Herman Van Rompuy, who seems not yet to have acquired as many critics as his longer-serving Dutch and Luxembourgeois counterparts, Jan Peter Balkenende and Jean-Claude Juncker.

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