The European Parliament has approved the re-appointment of José Manuel Barroso as President of the European Commission. It will be Barroso´s second five-year term as the Commission President.

Barroso was elected by 382 votes in favour, 219 against and 117 abstentions in a vote held by secret ballot on Wednesday. The approval required a simple majority of the votes cast as the vote took place under the rules of the Nice Treaty.

“This is the right result for Europe,” said European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek as he congratulated Mr Barroso and continued: “We are no longer in a political vacuum and President Barroso can start to build on his detailed programme and construct his team of Commissioners.”

Commission President Barroso expressed his warm thanks to the Parliament for its “enormous confidence.” He added: “This is a signal from the European Parliament that it is fully involved in the ambitious programme I have for the next five years. I want to work with all political groups that have signed up for the programme.”

Former Portuguese Prime Minister, 53-year-old Barroso, is the first President of the Commission who has been re-elected to this duty after the Frenchman Jacques Delors who headed the Commission from 1985 to 1994. Barroso must now form a new team of commissioners. The number of commissioners will depend on whether the Lisbon Treaty will come into effect or not – which will be known soon.

The Lisbon Treaty foresees maintaining of the existing system which allows every country to have one member in the European Commission. If the Treaty does not come into effect, the number of commissioners must be lower than the number of member states, as the Nice Treaty specifies.

More info on European Parliament website