Barroso II Must Get To Work
Tuesday 9 February, 2010
For video please scroll down.
Strasbourg - The European Parliament voted to approve the election of the new college of Commissioners at lunchtime today. "Barroso II" is now up and running, and will begin to tackle the work programme in front of it.
The ECR Group had earlier expressed its doubts as to the process, notably the fact that MEPs could only vote on the college as a whole. Many Members described the "take it or leave it" choice they faced as flawed, and they regretted the patchy quality of some of the new Commissioners.
In speech to the House, just before the vote, Timothy said:
"It is tragic that some member states believe the nomination of a Commissioner is just a useful opportunity to sort out a domestic problem or settle a political debt.
"The European Commission should bring together some of the most talented and effective political leaders from across Europe - people with the experience and competence to help it address the challenges we face.
"And these challenges are enormous. After years of institutional wrangling Europe needs to refocus its efforts on delivering results in areas where it can add value to the work of the member states and where our fellow citizens expect the nations of Europe to cooperate together. It must support efforts to nurture the fragile economic recovery to generate growth and jobs; it has to play a leading role in tackling energy insecurity and climate change; and it must propose essential reforms to the European budget and many of the key expenditure programmes.
"In Mr Barroso there is no doubt that we have the right leader to take the Commission forward. In his Political Guidelines he outlined an ambitious agenda to focus on the issues that matter - an agenda in general we support.
"He needed every single member state to back his efforts by sending the strongest possible nominee as Commissioner
"And yet, in some cases he has been badly let down.
"Of course Mr Barroso must back every member of his team. We would expect nothing less from a leader of his stature.
"And in organising his team, although we question a few portfolios, we believe that overall Mr Barroso has effectively structured the new Commission. He's probably done his best with what he has got.
"But this cannot hide the reality that whilst some nominees are clearly excellent and performed very well in the hearings, others are mediocre and made a poor impression. Some even seemed to distance themselves from President Barroso's Political Guidelines.
"If the vote is favourable, we will of course engage constructively with every Commissioner and we still hope to be positively surprised in cases where today we still have doubts. Please let us have an annual assessment of Commissioners by this Parliament.
"This is also still a fundamentally flawed process and one we cannot pretend to endorse. For these reasons the European Conservatives and Reformist will abstain today on this vote. Whilst other groups are disunited, we are united on this position."
The debate in full:
