Incoming President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso presented a revamped team of commissioners for approval of the European Parliament (EP) in Brussels on Thursday.  

At a press conference on the margins of the summit meeting of the European Union (EU), Barroso said that he was pleased that a revamped team is presented at last.

"I am pleased that I am now in a position to present a new proposal for approval of the European Parliament. We are back on track," he said.

He hailed this team as being "of high quality" and balanced, requesting broad parliamentary backing for the team.

"I have made the necessary and sufficient changes I promised," he told reporters.

In the new team, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini will replace Rocco Buttiglione as the commissioner for domestic and justice affairs. Buttiglione, the first Italian nominee, withdrew after causing uproar among MEPs with his comments on homosexuality and the role of women in society.

The recently nominated Latvian commissioner Andris Piebalgs will take care of the energy portfolio freeing up the Hungarian Laszlo Kovacs to be moved from energy to take care of tax.

President of the EP Josep Borrell said in a statement that the EP could initiate a "fast track procedure". It means that the hearings for the new commissioners could start next week.

Barroso withdrew his decision last week to present his team to vote by the EP in Strasbourg, France. He made the decision after trying in vain to secure backing from some main political party groups in the legislature.

Once approved by the EP at its next plenary session in mid-November, Barroso and his team will take office to replace Prodi, who is running the European Commission in a caretaker role.

(Xinhua News Agency November 5, 2004)