José Manuel Barroso unveiled, on 27 November, the long-awaited distribution of portfolios among members of the new Commission, who will now be able to start preparing for their hearings before the European Parliament, set for 11 to 19 January. The vote of approval will tentatively be held on 26 January. In a packed press room, where many EU civil servants were on hand to learn who would be their new boss, Barroso said he was “confident that I have assigned the right jobs to the right people”. “These are my choices alone,” he added, although in fact he had to juggle with member states’ different requests, the particular strengths of the individual candidates, political balance, the number of women, and other factors. In short, he had to work out a subtle balance. On paper, he seems to have managed quite well, less than three days after receiving the names of the final appointees.
Note EU-Digest: The most eye-catching new position is an EU climate action commissioner. Barroso has nominated to the job Connie Hedegaard, until last week Denmark's climate minister, when she was put in charge of hosting the Dec. 7-18 global UN climate conference in Copenhagen. Neelie Kroes of the Netherlands — the EU's active antitrust chief for the past five years — has been nominated as the EU's digital agenda commissioner, charged with pushing Europeans to go online more, both at home and at work. At the European Commission, the digital economy is seen to hold huge promise but it is felt governments must do more to increase access to digital content. Only 7 percent of Europeans have ever shopped online abroad, according to EU data, and European investments in high-speed broadband and developing new sectors such as online advertising are lagging behind the United State and Japan. Spain's Joaquin Almunia, the outgoing monetary affairs commissioner, will replace Kroes as EU antitrust chief.
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