The European Commission Vice-President Franco Frattini, who hails from Italy, is reportedly considering participation in his country's pre-election campaign on the side of centre-right leader Silvio Berlusconi.

Frattini - also in charge of justice, security and immigration affairs - has said that he is considering his future political assignments as they come, and "whether he is requested" to take them up, EUobserver reported, citing Italian media.

Frattini was referring to his possible involvement in the campaign ahead of an early parliamentary poll in Italy, expected by mid-April, following the resignation of centre-left Prime Minister Romano Prodi in late January.

Efforts to form a transitional cabinet that could push through crucial election law reform have been blocked primarily by the strongest opposition centre-right party, led by Silvio Berlusconi, who, according to current polls, could easily win the elections.

Commissioner Frattini was previously a member of Berlusconi's second government, which took office in 2001. He served as Italy's foreign minister from 2002, and two years later was appointed to Jose Manuel Barroso's European Commission team.

A commission spokesperson on Tuesday refused to comment on the "hypothetical question" of Frattini's future involvement in Italian domestic politics.

Nonetheless, the spokesperson pointed out: "There is a code of conduct for commissioners and it is clear that its rules must be observed," adding that the EU executive is "not there yet" in terms of applying these rules in the case of its Italian vice-president.

According to the code of conduct, "commissioners standing for election to public office shall inform the [commission] president of their intended level of participation in the election campaign."

"If their intention is to play an active role, they must withdraw from the work of the commission for the duration of the campaign," the rulebook states, adding: "Commissioners may not hold any public office of whatever kind."

The last time the code sparked a debate in Brussels circles was with the pre-election activities of Belgian commissioner Louis Michel last year.

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