The European Parliament voted on February 9 2010 to approve the "Barroso II" European Commission.
 
The new European Commission is headed by President Jose Barroso, who won a second term in office in September 2009, in one of the dramas that has seen delays in the approval of the new Commission.
 
Recent months also saw dramas about the Lisbon Treaty and a change to the proposed Commission after Bulgaria’s Roumyana Zheleva withdrew, to be replaced by Kristalina Georgieva as Commissioner-designate for International Co-operation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response.
 
Before voting proceeded, leaders of political groups in the European Parliament spoke.

The centre-right EPP-ED spoke in favour, while the socialists and liberals said they were voting in favour, conditionally, while among other significant groups, the Greens voted against, and the European Conservatives and Reformers said that they would abstain.

The new European Commission includes 14 returning members, including Barroso, albeit with Commissioners changing portfolios, and 13 new members.
 
The new Commission is expected to be sworn in on February 10, bringing to an end the caretaker term held by the outgoing Commission since its term ended in October 2009. It also means the end of the term of office of Bulgaria’s first Commissioner, Meglena Kouneva, who held the Consumer Protection portfolio.
 
Straight after the February 9 vote, the European Parliament was scheduled to vote to approve a deal that will allow it to vote to oust individual Commissioners. Until now, the European Parliament could vote only on acceptance or rejection of a European Commission as a whole.
 
Asked by euronews in an interview about the first measure the new Commission would adopt, Barroso said that it would be a proposal to give powers to Eurostat, the statistics office, "to check national accounts — to make audits — because sometimes we find the statistics we get are not correct.
 
"That’s the case with the administration in Greece, and we want to put that right. I hope this time the member states will accept what they turned down a few years ago. That’s the concrete measure," Barroso said.