CEPI - European Association of Real Estate Professions

The European Parliament elected the new European Commission by 488 votes to 137, with 72 abstentions, in Strasbourg. It is the first Commission to be constituted following the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. The new Commission will take office as of midnight 9 February 2010 until 31 October 2014. CEPI will follow with particular interest the work of the new Commission on energy efficiency, professional services and responses to the financial crisis, and will continue to emphasize the importance of the property market to the European economy.

The President of the Commission José Manuel Barroso outlined his aims for the new Commission and referred to its priorities as being "making a successful exit from the crisis; leading on climate action and energy efficiency, boosting new sources of growth and social cohesion to renew our social market economy". European economic recovery based on a 10-year jobs and growth programme called the 2020 strategy will be the broad focus of the work of the Commission, with individual commissioners concentrating on their personal portfolios. Three of the most high-profile dossiers will be the internal market led by France's Michel Barnier, monetary affairs, led by Finland's Olii Rehn and competition, led by Spain's Joaquin Almunia.

The European Parliament also approved a new framework agreement setting out a set of key principles to govern the cooperation between the European Parliament (the powers of which have been extended by the Lisbon Treaty) and the European Commission. Parliament's President, Jerzy Buzek said, "This is the first time in our history that we are appointing the European Commission in our capacity as a real co-legislator. This is the dawn of a new decade, with a new way of working for the European institutions".