Joe Borg is considered by EU officials and Brussels-based journalists to be one of the best European Commissioners from the 12 new member states.
According to a poll, conducted by Belgian magazine B there!, the Commissioner responsible for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries is one of the best performers and is described as 'Malta's politically courageous Fisheries Commissioner'.
Dr Borg has received praise for the manner in which he has managed his fisheries portfolio in the past five years, considered to be a very sensitive one for countries which have a high fishermen population such as Scotland, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, France and Italy. Dr Borg also spearheaded the first EU maritime policy.
Along with Dr Borg, the winners in the magazine's poll were Latvia's Energy Commissioner Andris Peibalgs, Slovenian Science Commissioner Janez Potocnik and Bulgaria's Consumer Affairs Commissioner Maglena Kuneva.
On the other hand, the thumbs down was given to Poland's Danuta Hubner, Commissioner for Regional Affairs and who has now resigned to become an MEP, and Estonian Siim Kallas, administrative affairs commissioner.
According to the magazine, Brussels insiders have largely agreed that the new member states have on the whole sent higher calibre people as commissioners than many of the long-standing member states.
The current mandate of the Commission ends in October and member states will soon have to make new nominations to Brussels.
The government is expected to either re-nominate Joe Borg for a second five-year term, or Malta's Permanent Representative in Brussels, Richard Cachia Caruana - who also negotiated Malta's entry into the EU.
However, the main political groups in the EP have not yet agreed when the vote will be taken on the re-nomination of Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso.
While the largest group, the European People's Party isadamant on a mid-September vote, the Socialists want to postpone this vote until after the Lisbon Treaty referendum to be held in Ireland on October 2. It now depends on what the Liberals decide in a meeting to be held during the first week of September.
The Liberals are now led by former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, who five years ago was the main candidate to take over the Commission's Presidency. He was, however, vetoed by the UK and Mr Manuel Barroso was appointed instead.