The European Union is looking into entering the virtual world and opening up an office in Second Life - an increasingly popular internet-based virtual world - which the Swedish government and the French presidential candidates have already entered.

"It is certainly an idea we are looking into," commission spokesman Mikolaj Dowgielewicz told EUobserver. "But we do not have enough people dealing with the internet - we could but they are bogged down with other work such as for the EU's 50th birthday," he said, adding that the EU executive might look further into it at a later stage.

Second Life is a virtual world in 3D-format built and owned by its virtual residents - called 'avatars' - where they can explore, meet other avatars, socialise, participate in individual and group activities, and buy virtual items and services from one another.

It was launched by the Linden Lab company in 2003 and resident number 4 million moved in last week. Several real-world companies have already created virtual shops in Second Life while Reuters has a correspondent there.

Europeans make up the largest block of Second Life residents with more than 54 percent of active users in January ahead of North America's 34.5 percent, according to Linden Lab data.

Mr Dowgielewicz - spokeman for EU communication commissioner Margot Wallstrom - explained that an EU office in the virtual world would be part of the commission's effort to get closer to the EU citizens and communicate better with them, adding that the EU institutions are still quite weak on communication in some areas.

No details have been suggested on how the commission could involve itself in Second Life but Mr Dowgielewicz said it was more likely to be a project of the commission's communication department rather than of the entire EU executive, EUobserver added.

The European commission is responsible for the 27-member union's EU embassies around the world.