European Union leaders are meeting in Brussels today where they are expected to be presented with a modest reshuffle of incoming European Commission President Mr José Manuel Barroso's commission.
Mr Barroso was yesterday waiting for Italy's Mr Silvio Berlusconi to nominate a new commissioner following the withdrawal last week of the controversial Mr Rocco Buttiglione.
Latvia has already replaced its controversial nominee, Ms Ingrida Udre, who was due to become taxation commissioner. She was replaced with Mr Andris Piebalgs.
Mr Barroso is expected to allow three other nominees who faced criticism from MEPs - Hungary's Mr Laszlo Kovacs, The Netherlands's Ms Neelie Kroes and Denmark's Ms Mariann Fischer Boel - to remain.
The moves could be enough to win the support of a majority of MEPs for the new commission, perhaps within weeks. Last week, Mr Barroso was forced to withdraw the entire commission from consideration by MEPs in order to avoid certain rejection.
The leaders are due to discuss economic reform this evening, while foreign ministers will discuss the situation in Iraq this evening in preparation for the leaders' lunch tomorrow with the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mr Iyad Allawi.
They will also discuss efforts by France, Germany and Britain to persuade Iran to abandon its nuclear enrichment programme, and will consider a proposal by the EU foreign policy chief, Mr Javier Solana, to boost the EU's engagement in the Middle East peace process.