Joe Borg, the Maltese former politician who is the EU’s Commissioner for Fisheries, was said last week to have expressed his intention to resume his political career in Malta, following last week’s general election.

The website Euractiv was quoting Commission officials.

Mr Borg would not be the only commissioner to leave: Commission Vice President in charge of Justice, Freedom and Security Franco Frattini has announced that he will take a month’s leave from Brussels to run for a seat in Italy’s forthcoming general election, potentially taking a ministerial position if Silvio Berlusconi is elected.

Frattini’s announcement came just a week after Cypriot Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou decided to relinquish his mandate with the EU executive to become foreign minister at home, after Cyprus elected a new president.

Commission President José Manuel Barroso has already accepted Cypriot MP Androula Vassiliou as Kyprianou’s successor but she still requires the approval of the European Parliament.

Moreover, Spanish Economics and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia might be forced to leave in 2009, when the Lisbon Treaty is due to come into force after being ratified in all 27 member states.

The new treaty provides for the High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, currently the Spaniard Javier Solana, to also become Vice-President of the Commission in charge of external relations. If Solana is to stay in office, Almunia will have to leave, since each member state is only entitled to one commissioner.