Barroso heads for second term

The way has been cleared for European Commission President José Manuel Barroso to be formally endorsed for a second term after his party retained the majority of seats in the Brussels Chamber.

The European Parliament elections saw the centre-right European People's Party (EPP) dominate, paving the way for Mr Barroso to retain his post for the next five years.

His present mandate will be over in October but EU heads of state and of government will meet next week and Mr Barroso's re-appointment is one of the main items on the agenda.

Mr Barroso will need the unanimous support of the 27 member states. Malta has already made it clear it will be supporting his nomination. At the last EU summit in March, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had said Mr Barroso should stay on as he had done a good job.

Following a meeting with Mr Barroso yesterday, Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer, holding the EU Presidency, officially announced he would nominate him for a second mandate.

Mr Barroso said after the meeting he was "honoured" to be asked to stay on. However, he said his decision whether to accept a second term depended on the support of EU governments and MEPs. "This acceptance presupposes that the European Council and the EP embrace the ambitious political programme I plan to propose for Europe for the next five years," he said.

"In times of crisis we need a strong Commission and a strong EU. I believe we are not living in business-as-usual times. We need ambition and European commitment."

Following Mr Barroso's endorsement, member states would have to seriously consider who to nominate as their country's commissioner in the next EU Executive.

Dr Gonzi has still not decided whose name to put forward, senior government sources said yesterday.

"The nomination will only be made once Mr Barroso is re-confirmed and there is a clearer picture of how long the current Commission's mandate is going to be," the sources said.

Although this mandate should be officially over by the end of October, there remains the possibility it will be extended until the end of the year to allow the Lisbon Treaty to be ratified by Ireland.

The sources confirmed that Dr Gonzi's shortlist would be based on three main contenders: Commissioner Joe Borg, Malta's Permanent Representative to the EU Richard Cachia Caruana or Nationalist MEP Simon Busuttil.

However, the sources said Dr Busuttil's "impressive result" at the polls last Saturday might exclude him from the race as "there might be more interesting roles for him in the PN's future". It was pointed out that Dr Busuttil was only 40 years old and his vote-catching profile was "not something a political party would want to lose".