Barroso backing
July 9, 2009
"We now have a unanimous formal nomination on Jose Manuel Barroso from all the heads of state and government," said Swedish Prime Minister Fredrick Reinfeldt, whose country currently holds the EU's rotating presidency. "The [EU] council has now taken its responsibility to finalize the nomination of the commission president," he said in a statement.
"Hopefully we will be able to, as soon as possible, move Europe to solve the important tasks ahead of us such as the climate and financial crisis," he added.
The decision to nominate Barroso, coming after a so-called "silence procedure" over 48 hours during which none of the 27 member nations objected, formalizes a political agreement reached at a summit on June 18-19.
Barroso is the only publicly declared candidate for what is currently the EU's most high-profile post.
His nomination still has to be endorsed by the European parliament, which next week is to hold its first session since elections in June.
EU diplomats say that the parliament is unlikely to vote on Barroso's nomination until September, since the second-largest group in the parliament, the socialist bloc, currently opposes the Portuguese center-right politician's re-appointment.
Political enemies aim to hamper appointment
The socialists have not yet put together a sufficiently powerful coalition to bloc his re-appointment but are pushing for an in-depth debate on Barroso's policies before a decision is taken.
Barroso has been criticized for his commission's slow reaction to the financial crisis last year, and he has natural political enemies outside of his center-right grouping, with the Greens openly opposing him.
He came to office in July 2004, emerging as a consensus candidate only after preferred nominees were ruled out. He was dismissed by some at the time as a "lowest common denominator" unlikely to ruffle the feathers of big states.
The Greens claim that the same is true today and that his return would only weaken the EU's executive body. They say the candidates from last time – Belgian liberal Guy Verhofstadt or Britain's Chris Patten – would be better.
The European Commission is responsible for drawing up legislation that impacts daily on the lives of almost half a billion Europeans, as well as enforcing the rules already in place.
Its president – who like the commissioners is appointed rather than elected – has significant leverage to influence legislative priorities. The institution will have a budget of 138 billion euros ($193 billion) in 2010.
nda/AFP/dpa
Editor: Nancy Isenson