(VOVworld) – The European Parliament voted Wednesday for a new European Commission, headed by former Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, with 423 in favour, 209 against, and 67 abstentions.
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| EC President-elect Jean-Claude Juncker (Photo: European Parliament) |
The 28-member commission with a term until 2019 includes 9 women and will take office on November 1. The EC line-up was completed on Tuesday, when President-elect Juncker was forced to partly reshuffle his team after Alenka Bratusek, Slovenia’s original nominee for a commissioner in charge of energy, withdrew her nomination.
Slovakia's Maros Sefcovic was then appointed to the post. Addressing the EP, Juncker said one of the new EC priorities is regaining the EU’s highest credit rating.
He reiterated that the EU is keen on signing a Free Trade Agreement with the US but the document should strictly abide by EU law. Juncker noted that negotiations with new EU candidates will hardly finish before 2019.