European Commissioner José Manuel Barroso has secured a second term in office after a secret ballot which saw him confirmed with 382 MEPs voting for him, 219 against and 117 abstentions.

However, it has been made clear, by his own group – the European People’s Party (EPP), the Socialist group (S&D) and others, that he is going to be judged on what he delivers.

Mr Barroso was approaching the last year of his term when the world went into meltdown and the fallout did not spare him. Mr Barroso came in for flak from all sides as the blame game escalated. He was blamed for pandering to member states’ government and being too lax on the financial sector which eventually spiralled out of control.

However, he weathered the storm and came back to secure a second term as head of the EU’s executive arm. The post was only contested by Mr Barroso and many analysts say that rather than this being because of his own stature and success, it is more down to lack of other viable candidates wishing to pitch their hat into the ring.

To be fair on Mr Barroso, he knows that he has his work cut out for him and has not shied away from the challenge. Whatever he does, we know that he is strong enough to keep battling away in an effort to take Europe back to the prosperity of a few years ago.

He will be watched and watched closely, EPP leader Joseph Daul warned him that “this is not a blank cheque and you will have to fulfill our expectations”.

The Socialist Group has called for “a real change of direction in the EU”.

It also called for more concrete proposals from the Commission to address the economic crisis, adding that it was disappointed at what is currently on the table.

But the Greens are not happy; Daniel Cohn-Bendit, voiced opposition to Mr Barroso, saying “we think we deserve somebody better”.

Mr Barroso certainly has a lot on his plate. The Southern States will be pushing for immigration to be put much higher on the European agenda while the whole of the continent is beseeching the EU and the EC to put plans into action to create more jobs, stability and to curb cost of living increases.

There is also the small matter of the Irish referendum which is to be held on 2 October. This could prove to be the redemption of Mr Barroso, or it could ultimately leave him impotent if it does not go through.

However it pans out, one thing is clear. The EC will no be afforded the impunity to criticism and accountability which it enjoyed in the past. Every move is being second guessed to a much greater degree than it was in the past and this is important. If the EC carries on the way it did in the lead up to the global economic turndown, it will become complacent (again), and we might find ourselves in very choppy waters.

If on the other hand, the EC becomes a lot more attentive to the needs of individual states, then Europe might really stand a chance to recover. If not... well... we might as well continue to spend more per capita on cows rather than science graduates.