STRASBOURG (AFP) - European Union lawmakers approved the bloc`s new executive commission, ending three weeks of limbo sparked by an unprecedented institutional face-off.
New commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso, who will take office next Monday, immediately pledged to get down to work, listing boosting Europe`s flagging economy among his key priorities.
"We must make a real difference to Europeans in their daily lives. Most importantly: we are going to be the catalyst for boosting competitiveness and growth," he said.
The European Parliament voted by 449 votes in favour to 149 against, with 82 abstaining in the ballot, which was originally due at the end of October but was delayed by the row.
The 24-strong commission led by Barroso, which was supposed to have taken office on November 1, is now expected to start work in Brussels Monday after getting the formal green light from EU governments Friday.
Barroso was forced to withdraw his first-choice team at the last minute after EU lawmakers threatened to veto it notably over controversial Italian EU nominee Rocco Buttiglione.
The cigar-chomping conservative Catholic, who sparked uproar with his comment that homosexuality was a "sin", finally agreed to stand down and make way for a new Italian nominee for the sensitive EU justice brief.
After some arm-twisting, Buttiglone was replaced by media-friendly Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, while Hungary`s socialist nominee Laszlo Kovacs had his brief switched and Latvia also put forward a new candidate.
The EU parliament, long considered the poor relation in the EU family, has made no secret of its delight at having given EU member states a bloody nose as it flexes its growing political muscle.
The new commission was all but guaranteed to clear the parliamentary hurdle with backing from the three biggest groups, the conservatives, socialists and liberals.
But in a shot across its bows, shortly before the investiture vote, MEPs approved a resolution seeking to strengthen their hand in demanding the resignation of any member of Barroso`s team over the next five years.
Barroso acknowledged the non-binding resolution -- which would require him either to sack the offending commissioner or if not explain his refusal to do so to parliament -- but did not commit himself.
Question marks remain over several of Barroso`s team, not least the Dutch nominee for the powerful competition brief, Neelie Kroes, who faces allegations of conflicts of interest over her past business links.
And several parliamentarians warned Barroso that their "yes" vote did not mean a blank cheque.
"Today you get your driving licence. Tomorrow we start on the rules of the road," Liberals leader Graham Watson told Barroso.
In an immediate display of the clouds looming for Barroso, an official said Thursday that Kroes will have to stand aside from three investigations immediately on taking office because of conflicts of interest.
Britain`s new commissioner Peter Mandelson, who holds the powerful EU trade brief, said he was "raring to go" -- and reiterated a call for the commission to focus on boosting the economy rather than creating more red-tape.
"I want to help make sure the commission makes a strong early start with its growth and jobs agenda. We want to keep creating in Europe dynamism and prosperity, not bureaucracy and centralization," he said.
But Nigel Farage of the anti-EU UK Independence Party gave a stinging summary of fraud convictions against several of the new commissioners, as well as recapping question marks over Kroes and Mandelson.
"I ask you a simple question: would you buy a used car from this commission? The answer simply must be no," he told MEPs.
11/18/2004 - 15:46 GMT - AFP