José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, announced his new team of Commissioners in November 2009.
Since then, the Commissioners have gone through their individual parliamentary hearings, and the Commission as a whole (following the withdrawal of Bulgaria's Commissioner designate, Rumiana Jeleva after pressure from MEPs), will be voted on by the European Parliament on 9 February during the plenary session in Strasbourg.
Several issues will be high on the agenda for the new Commission, not least of which will be economic policy and climate change.
Economic outlook predictions from both the Commission and the OECD remain gloomy for the duration of the new Commission in spite of the global recovery and improving economic sentiment indicators across the EU. Over-optimism may actually go further than stopping the recovery in its tracks - it could reignite the financial crisis, so the European Commission will need to ensure that it balances its approach and shows leadership in terms of coordinating withdrawal strategies from stimulus policies that are in place across much of the EU.
Large government deficits of course generate inflation and make it more expensive to borrow on international markets. But implementing a shift toward policy restraint too early will impact with considerable force on the fragile recovery. On top of this, spending will be cut and taxes raised in most countries. It will be for Barosso and Olli Rehn (Finland, economics and finance) to ensure that these policies are effectively coordinated, especially in the eurozone, to avoid serious damage to the currency as highlighted by Professor Nouriel Roubini, the New York University Professor who predicted the scale of the global financial crisis.
On climate change, the Copenhagen accord of course fell far short of the EU's ambitions and will have been a disappointment to many across the bloc. New European climate action commissioner, former Danish minister Connie Hedegaard, has identified the EU's lack of a coherent approach on climate change as being a serious problem, further pointing out that the US and China 'each spoke with one voice'. One of her priorities is likely to be for the EU to present a more coherent front at climate negotiations.
The next European Commission must be more than just competent. It needs to show leadership and to move the EU forward constructively on key issues such as these in order to show its true value.
Since then, the Commissioners have gone through their individual parliamentary hearings, and the Commission as a whole (following the withdrawal of Bulgaria's Commissioner designate, Rumiana Jeleva after pressure from MEPs), will be voted on by the European Parliament on 9 February during the plenary session in Strasbourg.
Several issues will be high on the agenda for the new Commission, not least of which will be economic policy and climate change.
Economic outlook predictions from both the Commission and the OECD remain gloomy for the duration of the new Commission in spite of the global recovery and improving economic sentiment indicators across the EU. Over-optimism may actually go further than stopping the recovery in its tracks - it could reignite the financial crisis, so the European Commission will need to ensure that it balances its approach and shows leadership in terms of coordinating withdrawal strategies from stimulus policies that are in place across much of the EU.
Large government deficits of course generate inflation and make it more expensive to borrow on international markets. But implementing a shift toward policy restraint too early will impact with considerable force on the fragile recovery. On top of this, spending will be cut and taxes raised in most countries. It will be for Barosso and Olli Rehn (Finland, economics and finance) to ensure that these policies are effectively coordinated, especially in the eurozone, to avoid serious damage to the currency as highlighted by Professor Nouriel Roubini, the New York University Professor who predicted the scale of the global financial crisis.
On climate change, the Copenhagen accord of course fell far short of the EU's ambitions and will have been a disappointment to many across the bloc. New European climate action commissioner, former Danish minister Connie Hedegaard, has identified the EU's lack of a coherent approach on climate change as being a serious problem, further pointing out that the US and China 'each spoke with one voice'. One of her priorities is likely to be for the EU to present a more coherent front at climate negotiations.
The next European Commission must be more than just competent. It needs to show leadership and to move the EU forward constructively on key issues such as these in order to show its true value.
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