EU formally nominates Barroso for second term (Roundup)

Jul 9, 2009, 14:44 GMT

Brussels - European Union member states on Thursday formally nominated Jose Manuel Barroso for a second term as president of the European Commission.

'We now have a unanimous formal nomination of Jose Manuel Barroso from all the heads of state and government,' Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, whose country brokered the deal as the current holder of the EU's rotating presidency, said in a statement.

'Hopefully we will be able, as soon as possible, to move Europe to solve the important tasks ahead of us, such as the climate and financial crisis,' Reinfeldt said.

Barroso, who was representing the EU at a summit of Group of Eight (G8) leaders in Italy alongside Reinfeldt, issued a statement thanking EU leaders for their decision.

'I take it as a great responsibility to have the unanimous support of the heads of state and government of all 27 Member States,' he said.

The decision to nominate Barroso, 53, to a second term as the head of the EU's executive formalizes a political agreement reached at a summit on June 18-19.

It was approved by the heads of state and government of the EU's 27 member states by written procedure, whereby the EU presidency proposes a formal decision to EU capitals, and the decision is approved unless members challenge it before a set deadline.

The deadline for Barroso's formal nomination passed unchallenged on Thursday morning.

The nomination must now be approved by the European Parliament, which is to hold next week its first session since elections in June.

'The last word is with the European Parliament. I stand ready to engage with the Parliament's political groups in the discussion of the policy orientations I propose,' Barroso said.

However, EU diplomats say that the parliament is unlikely to vote on Barroso's nomination until September, since the second-largest group in the parliament, the socialist bloc, currently opposes the Portuguese centre-right politician's re-appointment.

The socialists have not yet put together a sufficiently powerful coalition to bloc the re-appointment, but are pushing for an in-depth debate on Barroso's policies before a decision is taken.