EU Parliament horse-trading begins

As no party has a majority alone, the next few weeks will be marked by hard negotiations as the different factions deliberate on which other political groups may be good political bedfellows and where and with whom compromises and deals can be made.

Added to the mix will be the election of the next European Commission president.

The European People's Party wants current commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso to continue. It plans to call on EU leaders to nominate him at their summer summit next week.

Speaking to journalists on Monday (8 June), EPP chief Joseph Daul said he was "extremely confident" and "not worried" about Mr Barroso's chances of getting a second term.

But the EPP needs allies to secure parliamentary backing for Mr Barroso, who is sharply criticised by the left in the parliament.

Liberal leader Graham Watson said that it would be the "logical conclusion" for there to be a centre-right alliance of liberals and the EPP for the mid-July secret ballot.

But this alone is not enough to get the 369 votes needed if all 736 deputies vote, particularly as the French members of the liberal group are not expected to vote for the Portuguese former prime minister.

The Greens are not an option. Their leader Daniel Cohn-Bendit has called for a broad alliance to stop Mr Barroso from being elected again. The socialists have indicated they will only consider backing him if he sets out a more socially-focussed agenda.

Mr Watson, who on Monday was playing up the traditional liberal role of kingmaker in the EU assembly, suggested a possible quid pro quo on the Barroso question.

He suggested that the EPP would get liberal support for Mr Barroso if it backed down on wanting to head the European Parliament as well.

"I [do not] assume that the EPP would be wise to insist on the presidency of this parliament," said the British liberal, who for months has been trying to canvas support for himself to do the highly symbolic but relatively powerless job.

The five-year post could be split up between the socialists and the liberals, he noted.

At the moment, the EPP has two possible candidates for the post of chief of the assembly - the Italian Mario Mauro and the Pole Jerzy Buzek.

The Italian's name came relatively late in the day but it is now the second largest grouping in the EPP, after the Germans, with Poles in third place, meaning Mr Mauro has a shot at the job.

Already there is speculation that Mr Daul, a farmer from the French Alsace region, will lose his job as head of the EPP faction as part of an overall deal on the parliament presidency. This will be decided on 23 June.

In addition to the presidency question of both the commission and the parliament will come the new group formations in the EU assembly, potentially including an anti-federalist group set up by the British Conservatives.

It could be the fourth largest in the parliament with over 50 seats, according to analytical website Predict09. But still the Tories need to find MEPs from six other member states in order to pass the threshold for forming a group.

If formed, it will raise questions about how the group will fit into the workings of the parliament as well as practical issues such as which committee it will chair.

So far, the socialists, who with 162 seats fell far short of the predicted 200 seats, have not made an appearance. While the EPP and the centre-right gave press conferences on the election results, the Socialists, as second largest party, did not.

They are perceived as being in disarray following the poor showing at the polls. The results came despite the harsh economic crisis which the centre-left had tried to portray as a being the result of the failed ideology on the right.