BERLIN, Oct 17, 2007 (AFP) - European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said he was willing to bet that EU leaders would approve a reform treaty at a summit starting in Lisbon on Friday.

'If I had to bet that the summit is going to produce an agreement, than I would say yes,' Barroso said in an interview in German newspaper Die Welt on Wednesday.

He said he did not believe lingering Polish opposition to the treaty, or British fears that it was too similar to the rejected draft constitution, would prevent a deal from being reached.

LISBON, Oct 8, 2007 (AFP) - European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said Monday that a long-planned EU-African summit should take place with all African countries, and not be derailed by a row between Zimbabwe and Britain.

Speaking on the sidelines of an EU foreign ministers meeting here, Barroso said the December summit in Lisbon was 'not a meeting with just one country' but a 'meeting between the whole European Union and the whole of Africa'.

MADRID, Oct 1, 2007 (AFP) - Leaders of the European Union and the bloc's major energy firms urged member states on Monday to consider making greater use of nuclear power at a conference held in Spain.

'Member states can not avoid the question of nuclear energy. There needs to be a total and frank debate regarding this problem,' said European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso.

MADRID, Oct 1, 2007 (AFP) - European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso urged EU nations on Monday to hold a 'total and frank debate' about the use of nuclear energy.

'Member states can not avoid the question of nuclear energy. There needs to be a total and frank debate regarding this problem,' he told an energy conference held in Madrid.

'It is not the EU's role to decide if they should or should not use nuclear power,' he said, adding it was up to each country to determine how it generates its own energy.

BRUSSELS, July 24, 2007 (AFP) - European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said Tuesday he had committed to normalising relations with Libya in order to secure the release of six imprisoned foreign medics.

'I assured (Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi) of our wish to further normalise the relations between the European Union and Libya,' Barroso told journalists in Brussels.

'I told him that if this matter were settled we would do our best to further normalise these relations,' he said.