Portugal's Jose Manuel Barroso is standing for a second term as President of the European Commission. He announced his candidacy after talks with the prime ministers of the Czech Republic and Sweden, the countries which hold the rotating EU presidency at present and in the coming six month period.

At next week's EU summit in Brussels, the government leaders of each member state are due to nominate a presidential candidate, whose name will then be submitted to the European Parliament for approval.

It became clear on Monday that Mr Barroso is likely to win another five-year term. He has the backing of the Christian Democrat and Liberal factions in the European Parliament, which won almost half the seats in the recent European elections.