Barroso secures new term as head of EU executive

European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso secured a second five-year term on Wednesday in a vote at the European parliament. Of the assembly's 736 deputies, 382 voted for the 53-year-old Portuguese and 219 opposed. The rest abstained or did not take part in the vote in Strasbourg.

Barroso, the only candidate, had already been endorsed by the 27 European Union member states and his re-appointment as head of the EU's executive had been all but certain because his centre-right allies are the main force in the parliament.

He had required only a simple majority but hoped to win by a wide margin to reinforce his legitimacy and help him push through reforms such as tightening financial regulation to prevent a repeat of the economic crisis.Barroso said after the vote that solidarity, freedom and a stronger Europe would be his priorities. The former Portuguese prime minister told parliament he hopes to steer Europe out of economic crisis and give it more clout on the world stage.

He will now start choosing the rest of the commission, which includes a representative of each member state under the current rules and has important powers to shape EU laws and policy, controls a large budget and is a powerful regulatory authority.

Socialist, Green and Liberal leaders criticised him and his programme in a parliamentary debate on Tuesday but made clear they were resigned to him winning the vote. Supporters said Europe needed a leader ofBarroso's stature and experience to help it through the economic crisis and that failure to win a strong mandate would undermine the EU's work. A new term for Barroso represents continuity, they say.

Opponents said he was slow to tackle the economic crisis and that his programme lacked ambition. They said he had not done enough in his first term to justify a new mandate and had not stood up to the large EU member states often enough.