The EU's new 'liberal axis'

The new European Commission, announced by President-designate José Manuel Barroso, has been broadly welcomed throughout the European Union as a balanced and sensible one.

Mr Barroso promised to put economic reform at the heart of his five-year Presidency and said he would personally see to it that the EU adhered to the Lisbon agenda which calls for Europe to have the most competitive economy by 2010. The line-up of Commissioners and the portfolios assigned to them is clear evidence of this commitment.

Mr Barroso promised a "strong, independent and credible" Commission that would give "new impetus to Europe's economy". One the whole it looks like free marketeers have gained the upper hand in the new Commission with the top economic jobs going to liberals. This is a good thing, considering that economic reform will now top the EU's agenda.

The three main economic jobs have gone to Commissioners from reform-minded countries. Neelie Kroes-Smit, a Dutch successful businesswoman and former minister from the free-market liberal VVD Party has been appointed to head the Competition portfolio. Charlie McCreevy, Ireland's Finance Minister, will be the new Commissioner for the Internal Market and Services. Mr McCreevy also has a reputation as a free marketer and comes from a country which is regarded as a European economic success story.

Britain's Peter Mandelson, former Cabinet member, close ally of Tony Blair and architect of New Labour, is to be the EU's Trade Commissioner. He is clearly also a moderniser and a liberal when it comes to economic policy. Trade policy within the EU is one area were the Commission has complete jurisdiction, and Mr Mandelson will therefore be more powerful and have more authority that the EU's trade ministers.

Alasdair Murray, a senior researcher at the Centre for European Reform, a London-based think-tank commented there appeared to be a "liberal axis" across the three key economic posts, namely trade, competition and the internal market.

Mr Barroso has also shown his independence in his choice of Commissioners and refused to be influenced by the larger states when deciding to give what to whom. He denied both France and Germany their wish to be awarded "super-Commissioners" in charge of economic policy but awarded them sufficiently important jobs to keep them happy with the additional important-sounding title of Commission Vice-President.

Gunter Verheugen, the competent Enlargement Commissioner in the Prodi Commission, has landed the job of Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry as well as Vice-President of the Commission. Jacques Barrot, a close ally of President Jacques Chirac and a leading light in the ruling French UMP party, has been appointed Transport Commissioner and Commission Vice-President. Mr Barrot replaced Michel Barnier as Commissioner for Regional Affairs in the outgoing Commission when the latter was appointed Foreign Minister in last April's Cabinet reshuffle.

Some analysts believe that although the French government has publicly welcomed this appointment, it expected to be given a more important and high-profile one. Some observers argue that had Mr Chirac renominated the highly regarded Pascal Lamy (Trade Commissioner in the Prodi Commission) instead of the little-known Mr Barrot, the French Commissioner would have been given a more senior appointment. It is also said that Mr Chirac considered Mr Lamy's trade policies to be too liberal, although ironically, Mr Lamy belongs to the French Socialist Party while Mr Chirac belongs to the centre-right.

Mr Barroso also stressed the importance of improving the EU's image, presentation and communication strategy. He appointed Margot Wallström, the outgoing Environment Commissioner, as Vice-President of the Commission for Communication Strategy and Institutional Relations. Communication is certainly not one of Professor Prodi's strengths, he is not particularly good at getting Europe's message across to its citizens and I am sure the affable Margot Wallström and the more PR-conscious José Manuel Barroso will do a better job.

Certainly, the EU needs to get closer to its citizens and to make Europeans appreciate more what it has done for them and what opportunities it has to offer.

The Commission's other two new Vice-Presidents, Italy's Rocco Buttiglione and Estonia's Sim Kallas, are also significant appointments. Mr Buttiglione is the new Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security - this portfolio used to be called Justice and Home Affairs, reflecting Mr Barroso's commitment to strengthen both civil rights and security at a time when Europe has to deal with the problems of increased illegal immigration and the threat of Al-Qaeda terrorism.

Mr Kallas's appointment as Vice-President and Commissioner for Administrative Affairs, Audit and Anti-Fraud is important because it shows that Commissioners from small, as well as new, member states, can be given top jobs in Brussels. This is also very evident in the fact that our own Joe Borg has been appointed Commissioner for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, an important post, which is excellent news for Malta.

Another interesting appointment is that of Austrian Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner to the post of Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy. The addition of "European Neighbourhood Policy" to the external relations portfolio is relevant in the sense that the EU under Mr Barroso's presidency is to give more importance to its relations with its close neighbours such as the countries of North Africa as well as states such as Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Bosnia and Macedonia.

Mr Barroso's decision to reappoint an Enlargement Commissioner, (Finland's Olli Rehn) even though there are only four candidate countries, namely Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey and Croatia, suggests that Turkey's accession process, if this is given the go-ahead later this year, will be a long drawn-out affair.

Mr Barroso has got off to a very good start and seems to have appointed a good modern-looking team at his Commission. He is keen to show that he is his own man and will not tolerate interference from the member states, especially the larger ones. We will have to wait and see whether he will be able to maintain this stance after he takes office in November - when there will almost certainly be attempts at such interference.