LJUBLJANA, June 9 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President George W. Bush Monday kicks off his week-long visit to major European capitals. But not much is expected from this farewell trip as European leaders are already looking at his successor for future transatlantic ties.

    Bush steps down on Jan. 20, 2009.

    The president starts his visit in Slovenia, where he will attend a summit of the United States and the European Union (EU). Then he travels to Berlin, Rome, Paris and London, the most important capitals in Europe.

    Bush is expected to consolidate transatlantic relations, building on recent improvements partly as a result of the changes of guard in major European capitals. Europe-U.S. relations had been marred by divisions over the U.S.-led Iraq War in 2003.

    Topics are extensive given close transatlantic relations both in political and economic terms.

    Bush is expected to call for more help from Europeans on Iraq and Afghanistan as well as on Washington's attempts to halt Iran's nuclear program.

    He is also expected to give Europe a pat on the back on climate change, where the EU has been a world leader while the Bush administration has dragged its heels.

    Another important issue on Bush's agenda is the Middle East.

    Bush had vowed to help forge a peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians for the birth of a Palestinian state by the time he leaves office. But as the clock ticks on his time in the White House, little progress has been made. Like his predecessor, Bill Clinton, his hopes for a major breakthrough in the Middle East as his legacy might well come to nowhere.

    No breakthroughs are expected in other issues either.

    On the issue of Iran's nuclear program, EU foreign and security policy chief Javier Solana travels to Tehran later this week to present a new proposal from Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States. But the proposal is not expected to produce immediate results as Iran and the international community are still at loggerheads over the key issue of uranium enrichment.

    Washington's push for more European soldiers and equipment for Afghanistan had met pretty strong resistance from West European member states of the EU.

    French President Nicolas Sarkozy gave Bush a much needed gift by pledging to send about 700 additional troops to Afghanistan at a NATO summit in April. The pledge averted a crisis when Canada threatened to withdraw its combat troops from Afghanistan in 2009.

    With an Afghan donors' conference in Paris on Thursday, Bush will again push EU countries for more aid to the war-torn country.

    With the election of Silvio Berlusconi as Italy's new prime minister, Bush may get new pledges from him on Afghanistan and Iraq. Berlusconi, together with then British Prime Minister Tony Blair and then Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, was a staunch ally of Bush on the Iraq War.

    In his talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is less confrontational than her predecessor, Gerard Schroeder, Bush is expected to tackle the issue of trade barriers between the United States and EU.

    In 2007, EU-U.S. trade in goods accounted for one third of the world total and bilateral trade in services was over 40 percent of the world total.

    High oil and food prices could become a hot issue at the EU-U.S. summit. Developing countries have been asking the EU and United States to slash farm subsidies. The attitude toward this issue at the summit will be watched closely.