European Commission approved

The European Parliament this afternoon overwhelmingly approved the appointment of the 27-member European Commission.

The vote was taken at a plenary session in Strasbourg. The biggest groups - the PPE and the socialists voted in favour but the Greens voted against, while offering cooperation. The vote was 488 in favour, 137 against and 22 abstentions.

The new commission includes John Dalli, who is now the Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy. Today's vote clears the way for him to resign from the Maltese parliament, in turn triggering a Cabinet reshuffle.

The new commission is the second to be presided by Jose' Manuel Barroso. It will start its work more than three months later than planned, delays having been caused by Ireland's late ratification of the Lisbon Treaty and the attack on Bulgaria's nominee for the Commission and her eventual replacement.

Today's vote was preceded by statements by the heads of the political groups in the European Parliament.

After the vote, Mr Barroso said the Commission was 'proud and humbled' by the vote and he felt it had a 'mandate for boldness'.

PN, PL statements

The Nationalist Party welcomed the approval of the EU Commission and congratulated John Dalli for his new post.

"The Nationalist Party always believed, out of conviction, that Malta will play a very important role in the EU and John Dalli’s portfolio is ample proof that Malta’s size does not matter and is no hindrance to the important role its people can give through the EU’s institutions. Convincing the Maltese that Malta's place was in the EU was no easy task especially with a vociferous no-to-EU brigade which insisted that Malta and the Maltese will loose their voice and muscle in the EU, the Maltese believed in themselves and the yes-for-EU movement was strong and progressive enough to win over the conservative, sceptic, doom and gloom brigade."

The Nationalist Party said it looked forward to the year 2017 when Malta would be responsible for the EU Presidency, not for its ceremonial role but because it believed, out of conviction, that Malta could contribute much more towards the strengthening of the EU and help bring the EU closer to its citizens.

The Labour Party also congratulated Mr Dalli and said it was confident that he would prove to be a success, for the citizens of Europe in general, and the Maltese people.

The PL said its mission was for Malta to be the best in Europe and for it to be well prepared to assume the reins of the presidency in 2017. This would not be a challenge for the government, but a challenge to the country, single and united.

Facts about the European Commission

Following are some facts about the Commission:

-- The European Commission is the body responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, drawing up the EU budget and overseeing the day-to-day running of the bloc. It is intended to be an independent, supra-national body that acts in the interests of Europe.

-- It is composed of 27 commissioners, one from each member state, headed by a president. They are nominated by the Council of member states in agreement with the Commission president and must be approved by the European Parliament. They serve a five-year term.

-- The commissioners have a function similar to government ministers. They are responsible for departments, such as agriculture, energy, trade, economy, and foreign affairs, that are run on similar lines to ministries. They are presided over by Jose Manuel Barroso, a former prime minister of Portugal, who has served as president of the Commission since 2004.

-- The Commission is the only body in the EU empowered to initiate legislation, a monopoly questioned by some, who argue that the elected European Parliament should have the same right.

-- The Commission does not legislate on foreign and security policy, which remains the preserve of member states. Commission legislative proposals have traditionally focused on economic regulation, consumer affairs, health and the environment.

-- While each commissioner is appointed by his or her national government, they are required to represent the interests of the EU as a whole, rather than individual states.

-- Approval of the Commission by parliament is not a foregone conclusion. Barroso was forced to withdraw his original 2004 team after parliament's Civil Liberties Committee rejected Italy's Rocco Buttiglione, who had caused controversy by calling homosexuality a sin.

-- Parliament also flexed its muscles in 1999, forcing the entire Commission led by former Luxembourg Prime Minister Jacques Santer to resign after an independent report accused it of fraud, nepotism and losing control over its huge bureaucracy.

-- Some groups in parliament also initially opposed candidates to the latest Commission. Bulgaria's original nominee was forced to withdraw her candidacy after concerns were raised about her business background and experience for the job of humanitarian aid chief. Her replacement received much stronger backing during a parliamentary hearing.

-- The Commission has a staff of 38,000 and annual administrative expenses of €3.3 billion ($4.7 billion). Commissioners are the highest-paid officials with the Commission president receiving a basic monthly salary of €24,874 and ordinary commissioners €20,278 a month.