Pat Cox on two-day visit

The president of the European Parliament, Pat Cox, today starts a two-day visit to Malta.

Today, Mr Cox will call on President Eddie Fenech Adami and meet Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi. His meeting with the Prime Minister will be followed by a joint press conference.

He will also call on the Speaker of the House of Representatives and meet the Leader of the Opposition.

In the afternoon he will be the main speaker at a public dialogue at the Aula Magna of the Old University, in Valletta. He will attend the official opening of the European Parliament Information Office in Valletta.

Mr Cox has been a member of the European Parliament since 1989, representing the constituency of Munster in the Republic of Ireland. Before entering politics he worked both as an economics lecturer and as a journalist and television presenter on Irish television.

He was first elected president of the European Liberal Democrat Group in 1998 and was then unanimously re-elected as group president in June 1999 following the European Parliament elections.

The European Liberal Democrats are the third largest political grouping in the European Parliament and they bring together MEPs from 19 Liberal Democrat parties.

Mr Cox is said to be interested in replacing Romano Prodi as EU Commission President when the latter's term of office expires at the end of the year.