BRUSSELS - The controversial US candidate to head the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz, is to meet European governors of the development institution here early Wednesday, diplomats said.
The meeting is take place at 0800 GMT at the Council of European governments but no press conference is scheduled, the sources said.
At an EU summit here a week ago, European leaders signalled that they were resigned to the nomination of Wolfowitz by Washington to head the World Bank, which concentrates on long-term development projects, support and advice for developing countries.
There has been widespread criticism of the nomination because Wolfowitz, who is currently US deputy secretary for defense, was one of the main people behind the war in Iraq.
Europeans want to use the meeting to try to promote better representation at the World Bank.
A French diplomat said that Paris had proposed two candidates to be a deputy to Wolfowitz.
The two candidates are Jean-Pierre Jouyet, head of the Paris Club of creditor nations, and Jean-Pierre Landau, who has written a report for French President Jacques Chirac about the feasability of an international tax to finance development.
Paris also wants another deputy to Wolfowitz from a developing country.
The newspaper the Financial Times reported on Monday that European finance ministers wanted a "counterweight" to Wolfowitz and that "France wants a strong new European deputy, mirroring the division of jobs at the International Monetary Fund".
Wolfowitz has himself been receptive to European wishes, saying in a weekend interview with The Washington Post that he had no problem with a European getting one of the top jobs at the institution.
The current number two at the bank is Shengman Zhang of China.
Traditionally, Europe chooses the managing director of the IMF and the United States appoints the head of the World Bank. The informal rule has never been broken since the two institutions were set up in the wake of World War II.
03/29/2005 14:55 GMT