While the former Italian prime minister, Mr Romano Prodi, still looks a clear favourite for the job of president of the European Commission, EU leaders are not expected to ratify a name at the two-day summit in Berlin, which opens today. . They are likely to agree in principle, however, that they want to nominate an interim candidate who will be re-appointed for the full term of five years in January.
Italian sources suggest that Mr Prodi may not be available for appointment until June, allowing the leaders a couple of weeks' discretion before they finally have to make a decision.
Although that would mean leaving the current Commission in place until then, to the likely distress of MEPs, it is understood that the national governments are increasingly unwilling to be rushed by parliament into a decision. Although willing to bang the drum of Commission reform for public consumption, many are unhappy at the sweeping conclusions of the report on corruption and nepotism that prompted last week's mass resignation of the Commission.
In his letter to fellow-leaders setting out the agenda for today and tomorrow's meeting, the German Chancellor and President of the European Council, Mr Gerhard Schroder, appeals for a spirit of flexibility and compromise.
Their challenge to complete Agenda 2000 is made all the more urgent by the Commission resignation, he argues, "in order to safeguard the EU from serious crisis - at least in the public perception."
And he sets out the parameters of the deal in a coded language that reflects the separate and perhaps mutually contradictory aspirations of the member-states: "budgetary discipline" for the net contributors, "solidarity" for the poorer, cohesion countries, "fair-burden-sharing" for the Germans who feel they are paying too much, and "balance", a general aspiration that no one state will feel excluded.
The leaders will start their deliberations today with the traditional meeting with the president of the European Parliament, Mr Jose Maria Gil-Robles, and then start their discussions on the budget with an examination of the farm deal agreed two weeks ago.
The central question is whether to attempt to claw back some or all of the budget overspend through the so-called "degressivity" proposals. Lunch today will be devoted to the Kosovo crisis, to be followed by a discussion of the contributions system, and particularly how to deal with excessive net contributions.
