The European Union's conservatives Wednesday proposed renewing Jose Manuel Barroso's mandate as president of the European Commission for a second term, German government officials said.
The proposal was agreed by conservative government leaders meeting in Brussels ahead of an EU summit.
"Barroso stands for continuity and the cohesion of Europe. And this is what the EU needs in the coming years," Peter Hintze, a secretary of state in the German finance ministry, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
A former prime minister from Portugal, Barroso assumed the presidency of the European Commission in 2004. His current mandate is due to expire in 2009.