This WEEK in the European Union

This week will belong to the European Parliament as it holds it constitutive session after the June European elections - starting the seventh legislature since direct elections began in 1979

Its first major task will be to elect its president. The vote - a secret ballot - will take place on Tuesday morning. The outcome is already virtually ensured following an agreement between two biggest political groups in the European Parliament and will take the form of centre-right MEP Jerzy Buzek.

Along with the EPP and Socialists, the Liberals, Greens and European Conservatives have also said they will support the Pole, citing the symbolic value of having someone from eastern European taking on the largely ceremonial role.

The parliament will also elects its 14 vice-presidents and its questors, in charge of administrative matters. In addition, on Thursday, 12 committees will have their constitutive meeting with the internal market, industry and foreign affairs committees seen as the top catches. The rest will be formed on the following Monday.

On Wednesday, the parliament will hear from the previous Czech EU presidency as well as the current Swedish presidency. Swedish leader Fredrik Reinfeldt will present the tasks - a long and heavy-duty list - the country hopes to fulfil by the end of the year.

In the afternoon MEPs will debate the recent violence in China and Iran as well as the situation in Honduras, where a coup two weeks ago lead to the greatest political crisis in the Central American country in decades.

Barroso vote

The re-election of European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso for a possible second term in office will also feature strongly in group discussions during the week.

An early indication of whether there will be a September vote on his candidacy will be given on Wednesday when political group leaders meet to discuss the draft agenda for the September plenary session.

The Socialists, whose position on this is crucial (the EPP and the European Conservatives favour a 15 September poll), will discuss the issue on Monday.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday , the European Commission will publish proposals on granting visa liberalisation to the Western Balkan countries.

Last month EU foreign ministers suggested that citizens from Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro should be allowed visa-free travel to the bloc by the end of the year. Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina were not considered to have made the same progress however, while Kosovo is not yet included in the visa liberalisation dialogue.

The following day, the commission will come up with a revamped version of the security of gas supply directive. This follows major disruption to several EU member states at the beginning of the year due to a price spat between Russia and Ukraine.

The commission wants a better definition of security of supply as well as better data on gas supplies.

On Monday, EU farm and fisheries ministers will meet in Brussels. The ministers will look at a proposal to extend the intervention periods for butter and skimmed milk powder. This follows the sharp falls in milk prices which have driven farmers from across Europe to the streets in protest.