BRUSSELS, Nov 21 (AFP) - The new European Commission has pledged to finally roar into action Monday after an annoying three weeks' delay, but its driving force Jose Manuel Barroso faces a bumpy five years ahead.
Key challenges in his path include everything from launching highly-charged membership talks with Turkey to seeking to kickstart a sputtering economic reform drive for the expanding European Union.
Wringing more money for EU coffers from reluctant EU member states could also prove an uphill struggle for Barroso, testing his renowned negotiating skills to the full in a looming round of medium-term budget talks.
And while keeping his eyes firmly on the road ahead, he will also have to watch out for attacks from all sides -- not least EU lawmakers, whose muscle-flexing delayed him taking the EU executive's wheel.
"Today you get your driving license, tomorrow we start on the rules of the road," said the Liberal Democrat leader in the European Parliament, Graham Watson, after last week's delayed green light.
The former Portuguese prime minister, who was picked as a compromise choice to succeed Italy's Romano Prodi at the Brussels helm in June, was supposed to have taken office on November.
But a row over his first-choice team of 24 commissioners forced an embarrassing last-minute rethink, only resolved by last Thursday's vote in Strasbourg.
At the top of Barroso's in-tray Monday, by his own admission, is the drive to relaunch the EU's so-called Lisbon Agenda, an ambitious plan launched in 2000 aimed at making Europe the world's most dynamic economy by 2010.
"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 immediately after winning last week's vote.
The trouble is, the Lisbon reform drive was launched in the heady days of the Internet boom, which are now but a distant memory further muddied by surging oil prices and most recently by the surging euro.
A report unveiled at an EU summit this month by former Dutch prime minister Wim Kok gave a bleak assessment of progress so far.
"Halfway to 2010 the overall picture is very mixed and much needs to be done to prevent Lisbon from becoming a synonym for missed objectives and failed promises," it said.
The economic gloom will not help Barroso's task in looming negotiations on the EU's next budget round for 2007-2013.
The key paymaster countries like Germany and Britain which traditionally bankroll the EU are looking increasingly reluctant to continue doing so, and have already called for a freeze on contributions at 1 percent of GNP.
An even more pressing economic dossier is set to surface almost as soon as Barroso takes office: fresh breaches of budget rules underpinning the euro are to be discussed at the new commission's first weekly meeting on Wednesday.
That particular dossier will challenge EU monetary affairs commissioner Joaquin Almunia.
His colleagues all have their own problems: Britain's Peter Mandelson faces the double task of inching WTO talks forward while keeping a lid on US trade tensions; Dutch competition chief Neelie Kroes will take big business head-on while having MEPs breathing down her neck over conflicts of interests.
One of the most closely watched portfolios will be that of Finland's Olli Rehn, who is expected next year to launch the politically power-charged process of negotiating Turkey's EU entry.
The green light for Ankara is expected to be given by EU leaders at a summit next month.
There is little time to lose. After the three-week delay, Barroso is keen to climb into the Brussels driving seat. "It is urgent that we now get back to work," he said.
11/21/2004 01:54 GMT - AFP