Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel yesterday gave their full backing to the reappointment of José Manuel Barroso as European Commission president, but demanded he commit to a more ambitious programme for his second term.

Buoyed by the success of their centre-right parties in European elections, the French president and German chancellor set out to assert their leadership over the European Union's executive, saying they had a responsibility to resolve growing public disillusionment with the EU.