European leaders will be meeting for an extraordinary summit in Brussels today week to decide on who will occupy the top posts of the EU's hierarchy following the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty.

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrick Reinfeldt, whose country occupies the six-month rotating Presidency of the EU, said he had just finished consultations with his counterparts and he would start a second round later this week to establish the final list of candidates for each post.

Next week's summit is expected to finalise the details of the new EU Executive's formation with Commission President José Manuel Barroso yesterday calling on member states for names so as to finalise his list.

A spokesman for the Office of the Prime Minister said Lawrence Gonzi spoke with his Swedish counterpart via telephone on Tuesday but would not divulge details.

"The Prime Minister confirms that on Tuesday he had a telephone call from the Swedish Prime Minister during which the institutional posts established by the Lisbon Treaty were discussed at some length. The details of this conversation are obviously confidential," the spokesman said.

Asked whether Malta was in favour of any particular candidate for any of the posts available, the spokesman declined to comment.

The most recent speculation in Brussels is that the post of EU Council President will most probably go to the Prime Minister of Belgium, Herman Van Rompuy, a low-key politician and technocrat who has been leading his country for under a year. He is, however, deemed to be a consensus builder.

Another contender is Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende.

The other vacant post is for Foreign Affairs supremo who will also occupy the post of Commission Vice-President. The main contender tipped for this post, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, declined the offer.

Names being considered include former Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema and former Greek Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou.

Meanwhile, Mr Barroso yesterday told the European Parliament he had started working on the list of his 27-member commission and called on member states to submit their nominations.

He said that as soon as the foreign affairs chief was decided he would announce the portfolios of the new commissioners.

Malta is among a handful of member states that have not yet announced their nomination. This week, Hungary and the Czech Republic joined the majority and made their nominees.

Asked whether the Prime Minister intended to present Malta's nomination before next week's summit, the spokesman yesterday reiterated this would be done "at the appropriate time".

Sources close to Castille last week indicated Dr Gonzi would be making his final choice from a restricted list of three contenders.

The most likely option is that he will reconfirm the present Maltese Commissioner Joe Borg. However, Dr Gonzi might even decide to send Social Policy Minister John Dalli or choose the less likely option and appoint Malta's Permanent Representative to the EU, Richard Cachia Caruana.

Sources close to the Commission said Malta was risking ending up with a less important portfolio if it kept postponing its decision.