European Council June 2009 - Day 1

This is the first of my MaltaMedia reports from the European Council meeting in Brussels:

..Although Barroso is expected to get the support of EU leaders, the Financial Times and the International Herald Tribune reported on Thursday that Barroso is facing opposition to his re-election within the European Parliament particularly from the Greens and Socialists despite the lack of a clear challenger for the post.

The European Council meeting is also expected to be dominated by a discussion about a package of guarantees designed to persuade Irish citizens to vote yes to the Lisbon Treaty in a second referendum later this year..

During this European Council, the Maltese Government will be lobbying other member states to accept the inclusion of a specific reference in the concluding document of a pilot intra-community voluntary relocation programme for Malta that is intended to ease the immigration burden.

The Czech Presidency of the EU has so far been reluctant to accept a specific reference to this project in the draft Council conclusions despite the support of the European Commission...