11/10/2006 (Agence Europe) - José Manuel Barroso, Commission President, is opposed to the idea of defining the European Union's borders, as advocated, for example, by the German chancellor and next president of the European Council, Angela Merkel (EUROPE 9282). “I do not like the concept of Europe's geographical borders as even geographers do not agree on this”, Mr Barroso said in an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of 11 October. Defining the EU's external borders “is a political matter. We cannot fix these political boundaries for ever”, he said. It would not be a good “psychological” move to tell some countries that they must remain outside the European Union for ever, Barroso went on to say, stressing that the EU's absorption capacity is a “useful criterion”. (hb)