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M. Continuo

CORRECTED - European Parliament approves new EU Commission


    (Corrects number of votes against) STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) - The European Parliament voted overwhelmingly to approve the next European Commission on Tuesday, backing the new EU executive by a vote of 488 in favour and 137 against, with 72 abstentions.

    The decision clears the way for the 27-member body, responsible for proposing and enforcing laws across the EU, to take office nearly four months after originally scheduled.

    Approval was held up by delays in signing the EU's Lisbon reform treaty, by disputes over who would fill two top-level EU jobs and by parliamentary opposition to Bulgaria's original candidate to be humanitarian aid commissioner.

    The Commission, headed by President Jose Manuel Barroso, will serve for five years and has widespread powers to oversee issues ranging from mergers and acquisitions to financial market regulation, trade and economic and monetary affairs.

    The Commission has one member from each EU state, but is supposed to act in the interests of the EU as a whole.

    (Reporting by John O'Donnell in Strasbourg and Luke Baker in Brussels; editing by Dale Hudson)