European Commission President Jose Barroso, who will face a European Parliament vote on September 16 2009 on whether he should get a second term in office, has unveiled his political guidelines for action if he keeps his job.
 
The 41-page document was compiled by Barroso during the European Parliament’s summer recess, and spells out a "transformational agenda".
 
Barroso, who has been European Commission President since 2004, already has the backing of EU heads of state and government for a second term and there is no stated official rival for the candidacy, but centre-right political forces do not have a majority in the European Parliament decisive enough to simply hand him the job.
 
The political guidelines including revising the current Lisbon Strategy, the plan drawn up to make the EU more competitive in the global economy, to fit the post-2010 period.
 
Barroso said that achieving this would require immediate and longer-term action, including making a successful exit from the economic crisis, leading on climate change, developing new sources of sustainable growth and social cohesion, "advancing people’s Europe" and "opening a new era for Global Europe".
 
On the economic crisis, he said: "The priority now is to continue to sustain demand and stem the rise in unemployment. This means implementing the European Economic Recovery Programme with vigour, keeping interest rates low, and using our state aid rules to support governments in their efforts to revitalise the economy without adverse effects on other Member States. It is too early to withdraw these stimulus and support measures to the economy and the financial sector, but an exit strategy must be prepared."
 
During his first term, Barroso was criticised for supposed inertia in the face of the global financial and economic crisis.
 
On global markets, Barosso said: "Openness is critical to Europe's future competitiveness. This is not just a question of political preference. It is in our self-interest as the world's leading exporter".
 
"We need to join up the different strands of our external policy much better to use our "soft power" leverage to deliver solid results for EU businesses and for citizens. The European interest has to be protected and promoted in a coherent and determined way," he said.
 
He said that meeting all of the ambitions he spelt out, also including climate change and other issues, would require "root and branch reform of the EU budget".
 
European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek welcomed Barroso’s statement of his guidelines, saying that they provided a "valuable point of departure" for detailed discussions with the European Parliament about priorities for the next five-year term.
 
On September 10, the European Parliament’s Conference of Presidents (the leadership of the bloc’s legislature’s political groups) will confirm whether to proceed to hold a vote to approve Barosso for a second term.
 
In the European Parliament, the socialists, Greens and liberals have expressed reservations about a new mandate for Barosso.
 
Speaking to euronews, Jo Leinen of the socialist group described Barosso’s document as a "pot-pourri of different topics, some are status quo. There are deficits clearly in the social agenda of his programme, not enough on services of public interest, too little about a programme for full employment in the EU, and we also lack a clause on social progress."
 
Liberal group leader Graham Watson said, however, that MEPs were likely to give Barroso the benefit of the doubt.