Maltese MEPs vote for new Barroso Commission

A new European Commission led by former Portuguese Prime Minister José Manuel Durao Barroso will take the EU's helm on Monday after winning over two-thirds of the votes cast by MEPs at the European Parliament in Strasbourg yesterday.

All five Maltese MEPs voted in favour of the new Commission.

Yesterday's vote ended an unprecedented three-week stand-off between the EU executive and MEPs.

With 449 votes in favour - 66 per cent of the 680 cast - Mr Barroso regards his majority as a stabilising factor after a period of damaging uncertainty.

Following the announcement of the result, Mr Barroso told a press conference he was "extremely happy". He stressed that "66 per cent supported the Commission; it means two thirds, I am very happy and honoured".

The opposition to the original Commission team had triggered resignations, sackings and reshuffled portfolios among the 25-strong Brussels executive. Maltese Commissioner Joe Borg was not affected, holding on to the original fisheries and maritime affairs portfolio assigned to him by Mr Barroso in August.

During a presentation to MEPs minutes before the decisive vote, Mr Barroso defended his decision to "stop the clock" on the session of October 27 by postponing a vote on his team amid strong opposition from MEPs. He said: "Were I not wise enough to postpone that vote... we could have had a serious crisis".

However, support in Parliament has come at a price. Mr Barroso must now negotiate with a Parliament demanding new powers of oversight over his Commission. The former Portuguese leader played up the positive - both for the Commission and the Parliament: "I see this as a win-win situation. We can both win".

In a separate vote, MEPs overwhelmingly backed a new blueprint giving extra clout to Parliament's scrutiny of Brussels. The joint resolution, signed by the Parliament's three largest political groups, will now become the basis for a new inter-institutional agreement between MEPs and Mr Barroso.

The new Commission President said he had taken note of the resolution and promised to examine it closely. He said that at a first glance, the resolution could provide a good basis for agreement on how the two institutions can work together over the coming five years.

The new EU executive sees Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini replacing Rocco Buttiglione in the EU justice job. Latvia's Andris Piebalgs replaces Ingrida Udre, who was criticised by Parliament and then sacked by the Riga government. Mr Piebalgs takes over the EU energy portfolio. Hungary's Laszlo Kovacs saved his skin after a rough ride in the Parliament and is now responsible for taxation.

The new Commission is expected to receive the "formal approval" of the Council today during a meeting of Justice and Home Affairs Ministers.

All 25 commissioners will start their work proper on Monday. They will all be occupying the same offices in the Berlaymont building, which has just opened after 10 years of refurbishment work.