No one was expecting Jose Manuel Barroso to be so quick to announce the responsibilities of the new Commission headed by him. But that’s what he did yesterday just before noon, as a result of which John Dalli has now been nominated to be the new Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy.

Just before the trumpets start blaring, much as the Nationalist Party did yesterday with its immediate, knee-jerk reaction, some caveats should be in place.

First of all, this is only a nomination. The European Parliament still has to hold hearings with each nominee and then take a vote, expected to be around January. Last time round, the EP had turned down the nomination of Rocco Buttiglione, who then withdrew his nomination. This time, the EP is stronger, and may thus throw its weight around more.

Secondly, one must look at the overall composition of the new Commission. Media comment internationally has been that the new Commission may well be a “perfect blend of experience and new thinking” as Barroso himself described it. But there are already areas where one can foresee future turbulence.

Gavin Hewitt commented on the BBC that “in all the horse-trading over recent weeks over Europe’s top jobs there have been three winners. France and Germany have underlined their position as key power-brokers and Jose Manuel Barroso has ensured that no appointments have eclipsed his influence as president of the Commission.” There have also been losers: The UK, for instance, may have obtained the High Commissioner for Foreign Affairs in Catherine Ashton but its City now comes under a Frenchman already set to curb the City’s free market tendencies. Mr Barroso has given the weightiest economic posts to a Finn, a Spaniard and a Frenchman. Olli Rehn, previously overseeing enlargement, has taken the economic monetary affairs portfolio, a post vacated by Spain’s Joaquin Almunia who steps on to the equally important anti-trust job. France’s Michel Barnier scooped the internal market dossier, including financial services.

The Netherlands’ Neelie Kroes moves away from competition to take on digital agenda while Latvia’s Andris Piebalgs moves to development, from the weightier energy portfolio. Poland takes on budget, Belgium takes trade, while a Romanian will be in charge of farm policy. This could raise eyebrows as Romania last year had millions of euros of farm aid frozen due to problems in the management of funds.

Mr Barroso has hidden away the obviously weak dossiers of the last five years. Multilingualism, currently a separate post, has been lumped in with education and culture and given to the Cypriot Androulla Vassiliou while the communications dossier, open to charges of propaganda and with no real powers, has been completely scrapped. However some jobs do not appear to carry much weight such as the post for international relations and humanitarian aid, given to the Bulgarian Rumiana Jeleva while Slovakia’s Maroš Šefcovic has institutional relations, a political post.

Wholly new posts include the Climate Action and International Relations post but also the justice and fundamental rights dossier (Luxembourg’s Viviane Reding) and Cecilia Malmstrom’s Internal Affairs post, in charge of justice, liberty and security.

And John Dalli has been given the post of Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy, known in EU parlance as DG Health & Consumers (SANCO).

In case anybody may think that Mr Dalli from Health Minister in Malta has become the Health Minister of the EU, this is what he will be responsible for:

· Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO);

· European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC);

· European Food Safety Authority (EFSA);

· European Medicines Agency (EMEA);

· Executive Agency for Health and Consumers (EAHC).

In itself, this is a substantive role – but then even Joe Borg’s Fisheries Commission was substantive, as time proved. So, yes, Malta has not been given a sinecure like Multilingualism or an obviously vaporous office, but quite a substantive one, just like Dr Borg had. Considering what was said earlier, it is rather complicated to envision the EU Nomenklatura: It is not so simple to say Upstairs, Downstairs. Besides, compared to the situation in Malta where a minister has to do almost everything, a Commissioner, as just stated, finds a ready-made structure in which he is expected to fit in. Wits may perhaps be dismissive of a Commissioner Dalli getting concerned about eg. plant variety, but food safety, disease prevention and the medicines agency are all weighty roles. More so when one considers that one would be responsible for 500 million persons, rather than for 400,000 Maltese. And then there is the consumer agency as well...

The EU structure is such that the Commission, and the Commissioners, occupy a key role that national governments simply do not have. They are expected to have a technical grasp of things and also of European policy, to keep good relations both with the rest of the Commission and the Parliament as well as with the Member States, and above all with the stakeholders in their specific area of competence. Dr Borg did Malta proud during his term. Here’s wishing that Mr Dalli does likewise. Good luck, Mr Dalli. You’ll need it.