The Commission at work. No time to waste !
(BRUSSELS2) Approved on Tuesday by a vote of confidence by the European Parliament, by a large majority — 488 votes for, 137 against and 72 abstentions —(1) the European Commission did not wait long to get to work. The first meeting of the new college takes place today. It was time !
For several months, awaiting the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the European executive has been idling. He cannot take any legislative initiative but only expedite current affairs. However, the markets do not wait. After the banks, it is the budgetary situation of several countries, in particular Greece and Portugal, which is the subject of speculation. Without strong gesture, the Euro risks entering, in turn, in the heart of the turmoil. And the economic and social crisis continues its work. The closures of flagship factories, such as Opel in Belgium, follow one another. As for the new international deal in Washington, Moscow or Beijing, it requires a more determined presence from Europe. Otherwise, half-failures, like the one suffered at the Copenhagen conference on climate change in December, risk being repeated.
The 27 European commissioners (2) therefore have their work cut out for them. José-Manuel Barroso, who is serving his second term in Brussels, recognized this himself yesterday in the European Parliament: “Urgent challenges require urgent action, my team is ready”. At work !
(Nicolas GROS-VERHEYDE) - published in Ouest-France
(1) Most of the French deputies (Modem, PS, Left Front, Greens) abstained or voted against
(2) in particular the Franco-Spanish-Finnish trio, in charge of economic issues: Michel Barnier, Joaquin Almunia and Olli Rehn
