European conservatives back another term for Barroso

(BRUSSELS) - European conservative leaders on Wednesday supported a second term for EU Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso, whose mandate runs out late next year, EU sources said.

At a meeting in Brussels, attended by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, leaders of the conservative European People's Party gave their support "in principle" to the Portuguese commission chief, the sources said.

"It was discussed and I think it will be Barroso," said European parliament president and German conservative Hans-Gert Poettering, who is close to Merkel.

Poettering, like the left-leaning members of the European parliament, has voiced criticism of the European Commission in recent days, accusing the EU executive arm of being short of solutions for the growing financial crisis.

The German government had also appeared irritated recently by Barroso who had already received support for a second term from Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The next head of the European Commission will be chosen by EU heads of state and government, taking into account the result of European parliamentary elections next June.

The conservatives are the biggest political grouping in the current European parliament and have a good chance of retaining that position.

Barroso, who took up the post in 2004, is keen to have another term.