By Mark John
Center-right parties stepped up their campaign to secure a second term for Jose Manuel Barroso as European Commission president on Monday, one day after their victory in a European Parliament election.
The European People's Party (EPP) does not have a majority in the 736-seat assembly after an election in which ruling parties suffered defeats in some of the European countries worst hit by the economic crisis. Turnout was only 43 percent.
But after the ruling center-right parties won in France and Germany, Britain's Labour Party did badly and Socialists were crushed overall, it hopes to cash in on its status as the biggest party by securing Barroso's re-appointment to the European Union's top job.
Barroso has made clear he wants a new term as head of the EU executive, which has far-reaching powers to regulate and propose legislation, although he has been criticized over the bloc's handling of the global economic crisis.
"I am extremely confident ... I am not worried about that at all," EPP leader Joseph Daul said of the opposition to the 53-year-old former Portuguese conservative prime minister.
EU officials said Barroso could confirm his bid for a second term on Tuesday, when he has talks scheduled with leaders of the Czech Republic and Sweden, the current and next holders of the EU presidency.
He would then hope to win the backing of EU heads of state and government at a summit in Brussels on June 18-19 and secure the parliament's approval in July. He is the main candidate.
The role of Commission chief is vital in determining how the body deals with national EU capitals which often seek to resist its initiatives.
Daul rejected calls to delay a decision on who should be appointed head of the Commission until after Ireland holds a referendum on the EU's Lisbon reform treaty, expected in October. He said the EU executive needed to press on with efforts to tackle the economic slowdown in Europe.
"We need a president of the Commission, a president for the next five years. We can't leave this post vacant till the end of the year -- it would be like having no one in government," Daul told a news conference.
EPP TIGHTENS GRIP, SOCIALISTS HUMBLED
Incomplete election results after four days of voting ended on Sunday showed the Greens made gains and the big losers were the Socialists.
Far-right forces won parliamentary seats in some countries, including Britain, but they and other fringe parties did less well than some pollsters had expected.
The passage of legislation through the assembly, which passes the majority of European Union laws, is likely to be smooth -- including further reforms of the financial regulatory system intended to prevent another global crisis.
However, the EPP will now seek alliances to ensure its agenda dominates. A tie-up with the smaller Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) would take it close to a majority, but it would still need other allies.
Barroso vowed on Sunday to tackle climate change decisively after the success of ecologists in countries including France, where a coalition of Green politicians led by 1968 student protest leader Daniel Cohn-Bendit won about 16 percent of the vote.
Center-right parties won in countries including France, Germany, Italy and Poland.
"It shows a trend, and we want to use this trend in coming weeks right up to the general election," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said of a result which, if repeated in September's national poll, would free her from an uncomfortable coalition with rival Social Democrats and enable her to form a new government with the liberal Free Democrats.
Countries where ruling parties were defeated included Britain, Spain, Latvia, Hungary, Ireland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Portugal, Sweden, Greece and Slovenia.
The European Parliament passes many laws, has the final say on the appointment of the EU's leaders and budget, and is a democratic watchdog over the other EU institutions -- the Commission and the Council of EU heads of state and government.
The election was dominated by voters' fears over rising unemployment and concerns that the EU has done too little to tackle the economic crisis. But opposition Socialists across the bloc appeared too divided to reap the benefit of protest votes.
