European Commissioner Joe Borg was not available for comment yesterday and the only reaction to the announcement of his replacement arrived through his spokesman.

In a terse reaction, Dr Borg's spokesman said the Commissioner wanted to "congratulate Social Policy Minister John Dalli on his appointment and wish him well in his new post".

Asked whether Dr Borg would be available for further remarks, his spokesman said that "the Commissioner has no further comments to make at this moment". Following a successful five-year term at the helm of the fisheries and maritime affairs portfolio in the first José Manuel Barroso Commission, Dr Borg had publicly declared he was interested in a second term. Twelve of his colleagues were reconfirmed for a second term including the Commissioners from Italy, Belgium, the UK, Cyprus and Luxembourg.

Until a few weeks ago, Dr Borg was touted as a natural choice and his second term was almost a fait accompli, at least among EU functionnaires, but Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi decided to nominate Mr Dalli to Brussels instead.