EU commissioner Joe Borg discussed his future portfolio in the new European Commission at a meeting he had with European Commission President designate José Manuel Durao Barroso in Brussels on Monday.
Mr Barroso is at the moment having one-on-one meetings with all the nominees in order to establish who gets what in the new Commission he will be heading from November.
Contacted by The Times, Dr Borg confirmed that the meeting with Mr Barroso had taken place but declined to mention which portfolio he will be assigned.
According to reports in the international press, Mr Barroso is in the final stages of compiling the list of portfolios he will assign to the 24 new commissioners.
The list will be submitted to the European Parliament which will approve all the commissioners following individual hearings. This is planned to take place in September.
Last week, the Cabinet agreed to approve a proposal by the Prime Minister to re-nominate Dr Borg to serve for the next five years as EU commissioner. This followed a telephone discussion between Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Mr Barroso. During the conversation, Dr Gonzi and Mr Barroso also discussed the possible areas of responsibility Dr Borg would be assigned.
In his comments to The Times, Dr Borg said that at his meeting with Mr Barroso he reiterated his wish to possibly avoid serving again in the development portfolio. He said that his three-month stint in this area was very positive and he had established a very good working relationship with Commissioner Poul Nielson.
However, he preferred to avoid problems with the European Parliament regarding his personal opinion about the issues of abortion and reproductive health. Dr Borg said he told Mr Barroso he would be more than happy to serve in an area where he thinks he has more expertise and is also more relevant to Malta.
When asked which of these areas would fit, Dr Borg mentioned the EU's neighbourhood policy and the Mediterranean dimension, fisheries, justice and home affairs, education and culture and subjects related to financial services and company law.
However, he would not say which is the portfolio of his preference. He just said he made his intentions clear to Mr Barroso "and now it's up to him to decide".
Dr Borg and Mr Barroso also discussed the general composition of the new Commission. Dr Borg said Mr Barroso made it clear he wanted all the commissioners to be up to the same level of responsibility. Mr Barroso did not agree with the idea of having super commissioners as suggested by some big member states like France, Germany and the UK.
Mr Barroso told Dr Borg that the fact that most of the nominees by the member states were either active top-rank politicians in their country or have already a strong European background made things easier to have a very strong European Commission.
All member states have now confirmed their candidates. The latest announcements were made only yesterday evening by Denmark, Latvia and Hungary.
Copenhagen has named Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Mariann Fischer Boel. She will take over from the current Danish incumbent Poul Nielson, current commissioner for development and humanitarian aid with whom Dr Borg is twinned at present. She is tipped as a likely commissioner for fisheries in the new Commission.
Latvia's Sandra Kalniete and Hungary's Péter Balázs - on the job since May 1 - will not be returning to Brussels in Mr Barroso's Commission.
Latvia's leader Indulis Emsis said yesterday a fellow Green and parliamentary speaker, Ingrida Udre would replace the former Foreign Minister, Ms Kalniete.
Mr Balázs is to be replaced by Hungary's current foreign minister, Laszlo Kovacs.
Latvia and Hungary join the Czech Republic to bring to three the number of new EU commissioners dumped after a brief tenure.
According to German news magazine Focus, Mr Barroso has suggested that Günter Verheugen, who is currently responsible for enlargement, be moved to industry from November. This falls short of the influential economic post that German Chancellor Gerhard Schröeder had been pushing for. Instead, the big posts, such as competition and internal market, are expected to go to the new French and British commissioners.
Mr Barroso is expected to announce his team by the end of this month.