No EU candidate to destroy Syria poison gas stock

German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle also took his country out of the mix. "When I look at the technicality, the geographical stretch, then I think that such a discussion makes no sense," he said.

The OPCW has not released any names of countries where the weapons could be destroyed, but says it remains confident it can wipe out the entire arsenal by mid-2014.

Norway has said it will send a civilian cargo ship and navy frigate to pick up the stockpile.

Timmermans said it might make sense to turn the whole issue around. "Instead of taking the chemical weapons out of Syria to the installations where they would be destroyed, one could perhaps take the installations to the chemical weapons instead," he said.