Europe's centre right leaders back second term for Barroso

EUBusiness.com is reporting that Europe's key centre right leaders - Berlusconi, Merkel and Sarkozy - have endorsed a second term for EU Commission chief José Manuel Durão Barroso.  The Head of the Commission is chosen by heads of government.

As Prime Minister of Portugal from 2002 to 2004 Barroso gained a reputation as a fiscal hawk and was also a leading European supporter of the war in Iraq.  His time as Head of the Commission has been dominated by the Lisbon process.

In the video below from a press conference held yesterday, Barroso appears with Gordon Brown and claims that the European Union is leading the global response to the financial crisis: