Boosting growth, cutting near-record jobless queues and making member states stick to tough budget rules are just some of the tasks the new European Commission must quickly get to grips with.
The Commission, led by former Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, formally takes office today, with fixing the European Union's stalling economy the number one priority.
Juncker has promised a €300-billion investment package by the end of the year in response to calls, led by struggling France and Italy, to go for growth after years of austerity.
"The next few months are going to be really tough, with the Commission's latest economic forecasts, budget reviews during November and preparing the investment plan," Pierre Moscovici, former French finance minister and the new Commissioner for Economic Affairs, said recently.
On Tuesday, Moscovici will announce forecasts which are widely expected to show the European economy at risk of going backwards after a very modest recovery from the 2008 global financial crash and subsequent debt crisis.
A weak economy spells trouble, especially for struggling France, with Moscovici under pressure to show he can deal with the problems of his home country dispassionately and fully in line with European Union rules.
At least one problem has been eased -- a review of eurozone member state budgets last week cleared them all when Brussels had at one stage looked set to reject the French and Italian drafts along with, according to reports, the Maltese one.
For Juncker and the new Commission, the key test will be the investment package, getting it funded, agreed and most importantly of all, working over its planned 3-year life.
Final decisions on the package will go to a 18-19 December summit in Brussels when EU leaders will want to show they are doing everything possible to bring growth and jobs to voters who have grown sceptical the 28-member bloc can deliver what they need most.
The Commission is betting on trade deals, completion of the internal market and the development of the digital economy to revive growth and create jobs.
Juncker has backed a minimum wage across the EU, a traditional demand of the left that German Chancellor Angela Merkel adopted for a coalition government between her conservatives and the social democrats.
The commission has a full plate of foreign policy issues on the menu, including the crisis with Russia over Ukraine, the jihadist threat in Iraq and Syria, and the seemingly endless Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
The EU is seeking to strike the right tone with Moscow by using tough economic sanctions to stop its alleged meddling in Ukraine but without causing a rupture in relations. Outgoing Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso this week oversaw a deal to resume Russian gas supplies to Ukraine this week. New EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has called for firmness and tact with Russia, stressing that if Russia is no longer a partner, it remains a strategic country and neighbour.
Juncker has said the EU will not expand beyond the 28 member countries it currently has. Negotiations to admit new members will continue but no new country will join the club, including Serbia and Montenegro.
EU leaders have sent the message that they want Britain to stay in the bloc. Under intense pressure from eurosceptics, British Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged that if re-elected, he will hold a referendum by 2017 on whether to leave the EU.
To avoid a British exit, or "Brexit," European institutions appear ready to cut red tape and allow some decisions to be taken nationally, where possible.
In an apparent sop to the British, Juncker named Briton Jonathan Hill his commissioner for financial services, the industry for which London has a worldwide reputation.
But Juncker has flatly refused to negotiate on the issue of free movement, in a blow to Cameron's pledge to seek new limits on immigration.
In all this, it is rather depressing for us in Malta to find that tackling the problem of immigration does not seem to factor among the new Commission's main targets.
Meanwhile, we shall be watching to see how Malta's new Commissioner, Karmenu Vella, functions in his new role.