"Complicated talks" on Barroso's re-election, says Merkel (Roundup)

Jun 9, 2009, 15:00 GMT

Berlin - German Chancellor Angela Merkel predicted tough negotiations with the European parliament on Tuesday after the socialist grouping there voiced opposition to the re-election of European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso.

'We will need to hold complicated talks with the European parliament,' the chancellor said at a joint press conference with Barroso ahead of a meeting between the two leaders in Berlin.

Merkel and her fellow conservatives in the parliament are backing the centre-right Barroso, who confirmed earlier Tuesday that he was running for a second five-year term as head of the EU's executive.

But Martin Schulz, head of the socialist grouping in the legislature, withheld support, saying: 'Mr Barroso stands for a policy which we opposed in the (European Parliament) elections.'

'I cannot recommend at the moment that my fraction supports Mr Barroso for a second term,' Schulz told Wednesday's edition of the newspaper Financial Times Deutschland.

At the weekend, centre-right parties handed a stinging defeat to the socialists in European Union elections, forming by far the largest bloc in the pan-European parliament.

But they lack a majority to push through their candidate and would require backing from the socialists or other factions to re-elect Barroso, who is widely tipped to be endorsed by EU leaders at their summit in Brussels on June 18-19.

If the 162 socialist deputies oppose Barroso en bloc, that would leave the Portuguese politician looking for support among eurosceptic, Green, nationalist or extreme left- or right-wing groups, who have been less than vocal in his support in the past.

'I will be happy and honoured to go on as president of the EU Commission,' Barroso said in Berlin, pointing out that climate protection and the global economic crisis were the two biggest challenges faced by the 27-nation bloc.

Barroso and Merkel said that next week's summit would also need to agree on what guarantees could be given to Irish voters, who are expected to vote again on the EU's reform treaty in October.

In a referendum last year, Ireland became the only country to reject the treaty, which seeks sweeping reforms of the EU to help it meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Reports suggest the EU might offer Ireland concessions on abortion, military neutrality and the right to determine national policy on taxation.