European Union (EU) leaders handed down their blessing on Thursday to Jose Manuel Barroso’s bid for a second term as the European Commission chief.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso attends a press conference after the first day meeting of European Council meeting in Brussels, capital of Belgium, June 18, 2009. European Union (EU) leaders decided on Thursday to back Jose Manuel Barroso’s bid for a second term as the European Commission chief. (Xinhua Photo)

In response to his nomination, Barroso said he was moved by the unanimous support from EU leaders and their acknowledgement of the commission’s work.

“I am extremely proud of the unanimous support I received from the heads of state and government of the European Union,” he said.

But Barroso still needs approval from EU lawmakers, who have a joint say with EU government on the choice of the commission chief, to secure his reappointment.

Fischer said the Czech government and Sweden, the next EU presidency, will now start consultation with different political groups in the European Parliament.

Although Barroso has guaranteed support from the center-right European People’s Party, the largest political group in the parliament which he belongs to, the Socialists, the second largest group, and smaller Greens have voiced their opposition to Barroso’s second term.

Martin Schulz, head of the Party of European Socialists, warned on Thursday that they would not back Barroso’s reappointment.

“It is completely premature and without the socialists there is not a parliamentary majority, unless there is a vote with the anti-European MEPs,” he said hours ahead of the EU summit.

PARLIAMENT’S APPROVAL TRICKY

This is also a tricky issue clouding the parliament’s approval, which is related to the EU’s reforming Lisbon Treaty.

Following EU-wide elections early this month, the newly-installed European Parliament will convene for its first meeting in mid-July.

If the European Parliament votes next month, the existing EU Nice Treaty will apply, under which a single majority will be enough for Barroso’s reappointment. It will not be a hard job.

But if the European Parliament delayed the approval until the Lisbon Treaty is finally ratified, support from an absolute majority of the whole assembly would be required, making Barroso’s bid more difficult.

It remains unclear whether the EU assembly would decide Barroso’s reappointment soon.

Fischer urged the European Parliament to make a decision as soon as possible in order to ensure institutional stability in the face of the economic crisis.

“We want to avoid any delay. We want to be effective. We want to ensure that this nomination takes as little time as possible. At the same time, we want to have good relations with the European Parliament,” he said.

Barroso, 53, has served as the European Commission President since 2004 and his term expires in October.

If reelected, the former Portuguese Prime Minister said his two urgent priorities would be the economic crisis and climate change.

TREATY IMPASSE UNSOLVED

But on the first day of their summit, EU leaders failed to work out a deal with Ireland to secure approval of the Lisbon Treaty in the country’s second referendum possibly in early October.

One year ago, Irish voters rejected the Lisbon Treaty, plunging the EU into an institutional crisis.

The Lisbon Treaty, which is designed to streamline EU policy-making after its expansion, would not come into force until being ratified by all 27 EU member states. Ireland is the only country which puts the treaty to referendum.

EU leaders had been trying to give legal guarantees to Dublin so as to relieve Irish voters’ concerns that the Lisbon Treaty may breach their country’s neutrality and force it to change its tax and family laws, but the negotiations were stuck on how strong the legal guarantees should be.

In a letter sent to his EU counterparts, Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen made plain that he wanted a protocol.

“To provide the maximum possible legal reassurance to the Irish people, I need to be able to come out of our meeting and state, without fear of contradiction, that the legal guarantees contained in the decision will, in time, acquire full treaty status by way of a protocol,” he said.

Fischer said the issue has been put off until Friday and a compromised deal should be found, which would satisfy Ireland and may not give other countries a pretext to reopen the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty.

NO DEAL ON FINANCIAL SUPERVISION

EU leaders also left a formal decision to tighten financial supervision across the 27-nation bloc until the second day.

Diplomatic sources had previously said that EU leaders agreed in principle, but Barroso said he hopes there would be a formal deal on Friday.

As the key part of wider efforts to prevent recurrence of the ongoing financial crisis, the reform would in essence improve pan-European regulation of cross-border financial markets within the EU.

In total, four new European regulators would be set up under the reform for better financial supervision at both macro level and micro level.

On the macro level, a European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) comprising central bankers and national regulators would be established to monitor and assess risks to the stability of the financial system as a whole, while on the micro level three new European authorities would be charged with supervising banking, insurance and stock exchange.

Britain has been opposed to the arrangement that the ESRB would be chaired by the European Central Bank, which belongs to the euro zone.

London is also concerned about the power of the three new European authorities to overrule national decisions in the case of disputes, saying it may impinge on member states’ fiscal responsibilities since the new authorities could order governments to bail out major banks in time of crisis in order to prevent spill-over effects in other member states.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet