Jose Manuel Barroso, the Portuguese president of the European commission, won five more years as head of the EU executive with a sweeping majority of votes that vastly exceeded expectations.

After months of a power struggle between governments in the EU and the new European parliament, Barroso was awarded a second term with 382 votes in the 736-seat chamber in Strasbourg. He needed 369 for an absolute majority.

With the backing of the EU’s 27 governments already assured, Barroso enjoyed the support today of the mainstream centre-right, the biggest caucus in the European parliament, and also of the British Conservatives and their east European Eurosceptic allies, despite the fact that Barroso is committed to the EU’s reform blueprint, the Lisbon treaty, and called for greater EU integration.

The outcome ended weeks of uncertainty, during which the Socialist, Green and Liberal foes tried to block his candidacy, and averted a potential paralysis in the EU’s executive that would have undermined its authority and legitimacy.

Barroso secured a strong mandate. He is only the second head of the commission to receive a second term. His re-election represented a further debacle for the centre-left in the parliament. Martin Schultz, the German who heads the European social democrats in the parliament, led the campaign over the summer to delay and frustrate a vote on Barroso. But despite his promises that the social democrats could not support Barroso and would abstain, he presided over a divided caucus, many of whom voted for the commission chief. Some of my colleagues in the European Parliament divulged that at least 25 social democrats voted for Barroso.

Declaring that his only political party “is Europe”, Barroso said that the new commission to be formed over the next couple of months would be non-partisan and broad-based. There are obviously those, similar to the movements we have in our own country, that said he was a puppet of the bigger EU governments. Whilst the reality is that he believes in a form of consensus, and from the results we have obtained, the picture is just right.

He also faces a series of challenges, led by pulling Europe out of its deep economic crisis. His will is to steer Europe out of crisis and give it more influence on the world stage. He identified unemployment as a major concern and promised to keep the EU at the forefront of efforts to fight climate change.

With Barroso at the helm, the European Commission has made the re-unified European Union work to the benefit of its citizens and has consequently brought increased stability and prosperity to a Union of 27 Member States. This successful Union responded decisively to the financial and economic crisis. It has pushed forward an integrated approach to combating climate change and securing energy supply.

The Barroso Commission has taken the initiative in proposing solutions to today’s problems. The economic recovery plan, fighting climate change, energy security, the, 1 billion euro food facility for development, European Institute of Technology, 5 billion euro for energy projects and broadband for rural communities and the migration pact – all stem from the initiative of the Commission.

The Barroso Commission has led the model shift in Europe’s approach towards climate change and energy. With the ambitious package of legislative measures prepared by the Barroso Commission, Europe has shown itself ready to give leadership and will continue to do so in the run-up to the Copenhagen climate change talks. In these past five years, I have formed an integral part of the temporary committee on climate change, and the drive for better solutions have found their way from the top to world leaders, and even to our committees.

And I felt I must conclude this article with Barroso’s own words of unifying wisdom: “As president of the commission, my party is going to be Europe. Anyone who wants can come on board on this exciting journey that is the integration of Europe.”



David Casa is a Nationalist MEP