The New European Commission: Expectations, Challenges, Priorities

After the Irish said “yes” to the Lisbon treaty the second time round, the ratification process seems to be close to finalisation, even though the Polish and the Czech president can still cause problems (and if they succeed in stalling long enough even a new UK government could). If the treaty is ratified by then, the Swedish EU presidency wants to discuss the nominations to all EU top jobs, including that of the permanent Council president and that of the new EU high representative for foreign policy on the 29-30 October EU summit. The current Commission would probably continue in a caretaker capacity for a limited time.  Also, if the Lisbon treaty is not ratified by the end of the year, a new Commission would have to be elected under the Nice treaty with as likely consequence no commission posts for member states that have not ratified the Lisbon treaty. How will this insecurity affect the work of the European Commission in a time of economic and financial crisis? What can be realistically expected from the new Commission its (old and new) president Barroso?

Speakers:
- Piotr Maciej Kaczynski, Research Fellow, EU Politics and Institutions Unit, Centre for European Policy Studies
- Eva Lichtenberger, MEP, Vice-President of the GREENS/EFA Group in the European Parliament
- Honor Mahony, Editor EU Observer
 
Moderator:
Claude Weinber, Director Heinrich Böll Stiftung European Union, Brussels