HE MAY have won an overwhelming endorsement from voters for his promise to renegotiate the terms of Ireland's €85 billion bail-out. But on his first outing on the international stage as the Taoiseach-in-waiting, Enda Kenny is finding it much harder to convince his fellow European leaders of the justice of his cause. The Irish Independent summed it up well this morning: “Enda gets a few pats on back - but little else from EU allies”.

In Helsinki for a summit of leaders from the European People's Party (EPP), the centre-right “family” of parties in the European parliament, Mr Kenny's election bring the EPP's crop of presidents and prime ministers up to 15 of the EU's 27 member-states.

But for all the congratulations, the EPP's matriarch, Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, only conceded Mr Kenny “a couple of minutes” of her time for one-on-one talks, says one well-placed source. On the substance of his plea, the response was a cold as the ice that still covers Finland's lakes. Mrs Merkel said that any concession to Ireland would have to be matched by “further commitments” and “further conditionality”. The host, Jyrki Katainen, Finland's finance minister and possible prime minister after April's general election, put it bluntly: “There are no free lunches”.

Wilfried Martens, the EPP president and former Belgian prime minister, put a hopeful gloss, saying “nobody spoke against” Mr Kenny in the meeting behijnd closed doors. But had anyone supported him? Uhm, no.

In truth, there is growing sympathy within Europe for the demand by Ireland and Greece to pay lower interest. The rate they pay, about 6%, is much lower than the market would demand. Yet it represents a substantial premium (more than 3%) above the rate that the European Commission and the special-purpose fund, the European Financial Stability Facility, are paying to raise the loans.

This bail-out rate was deliberately designed to impose a degree of pain to deter other countries from seeking bail-outs except in the direst need. The worry, though, is that the burden is adding to the mountain of debt that Ireland and Greece are already carrying. The European Commission, for one, privately thinks that the rate should be reduced. One senior source argues that the danger of “moral hazard” should be addressed by the tough austerity measures imposed on countries, not by "punitive" interest rates.

The EPP statement at the end of the summit spoke vaguely of “periodic re-evaluation” of the rescue terms, and the possibility of “possible amendments”.But these seemed to require “certain adjustments at national level”. So what could Mr Kenny offer? The obvious concession is a reduction in Ireland's low corporate-tax rate, which most other EU states resent. But Mr Kenny says that is a non-starter: it would lead to lower investments and job losses in Ireland. The European Commission is working on a plan to harmonise the corporate-tax base, rather than the tax rate. But Mr Kenny sees this as the thin end of the wedge for future tax harmonisation.

Mr Kenny also seems to have given up his one weapon: imposing losses on senior Irish bank bond-holders, which would have a knock-on effect on other European banks, not least German ones. “There were strong comments that that wouldn't be a runner,” he said, according to the Irish Times.

The trouble for Mr Kenny that his electoral mandate runs into the wall of the electoral problems of the core-within-the-core of the euro zone: the six AAA-rated countries, among them Germany and Finland. Mrs Merkel faces a series of regional elections, and Mr Katainen is hoping his centre-right Kokoomus party will lead the government after next April's election (thus becoming the EPP's 16th leader). Both face a strong backlash from electors for having to bail-out less disciplined European partners.

Indeed, the EPP summit was held in Helsinki in part to boost the profile and standing of the boyish Mr Katainen, still only 39 years old. As he walked in to the Kamp Hotel, Mr Kenny was the only one who played his assigned part. He pointed to Mr Katainen and told the cameras: “He's a good man and I hope he gets elected.” Mr Katainen looked sheepish. “Thanks Enda,” he might have thought, “but if you want me to get elected you'd better stop asking for special favours.”

* The matter of interest rates is not closed yet, it seems. Since I put up this post, I see that Olli Rehn, the economic and monetary affairs commissioner (and a Finn) has now come out explicitly in favour of lower interest rates for Ireland.