EUROPEAN COMMISSION president José Manuel Barroso has issued a final plea to MEPs before they vote today on whether to back him for another five-year term in office.
In a speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg yesterday, Mr Barroso called on MEPs to give him a strong mandate to enable the EU executive to steer Europe out of the economic crisis and defend European interests.
“Now, more than ever, we need a strong Europe led by a strong European Commission … If you want a strong commission that stands up to member states you should give this commission the strong support it needs,” he said.
Mr Barroso has won the unanimous backing of the 27 EU heads of state and government but he requires the backing of at least a simple majority of MEPs to get the job under the current EU rules. His advisers’ hope he can get close to an absolute majority of the 736 MEPs, which is required under the Lisbon Treaty. This would give him a stronger mandate.
Opposition from MEPs in the Green, Liberal and Socialist political groups in the parliament delayed a vote on his appointment in July. But weeks of lobbying by Mr Barroso, combined with the failure of any political group to put up a rival candidate, means he is likely to muster enough support from MEPs to be confirmed with at least a simple majority.
The former Portuguese prime minister has the backing of his own political group the European People’s Party (EPP) and the European Conservatives. The Liberals indicated yesterday they would offer him conditional backing, although some French liberal MEPs are expected to vote against him. The eurosceptic Freedom and Democracy group will oppose him. UKIP MEP Nigel Farage said the vote should wait until after the Irish referendum. A second no would force Mr Barroso to stand down in any case, he added.
Most Socialist and Green MEPs are likely to vote against him. German MEP Martin Schultz, who is leader of the Socialists and one of Mr Barroso’s sternest critics, accused him yesterday of failing to stand up to big member states and protest EU interests in his first term. “We need a real change of direction in the EU and that is what we will measure you against,” he said. But it is expected some Socialist MEPs from Portugal, Spain and Britain will break ranks today and support Mr Barroso in the secret ballot.
Mr Barroso offered concessions to the three groups that have criticised his tenure as commission president as “lacking ambition” in his speech yesterday. He promised to create new commission posts to cover: climate action; justice, fundamental rights and civil liberties; and internal affairs and migration. He said he would appoint a chief scientific adviser as part of a major review of the way EU institutions access and use scientific advice.
In an attempt to win the backing of some Socialist MEPs he promised to undertake social impact assessments for all future EU proposals and review the posting of workers directive – a key piece of EU law that enables firms to employ their own staff when completing work in other European states.