Vote should see end of political crisis

But new commission president Jose Manuel Barroso was forced to withdraw them all last month because MEPs opposed the inclusion of controversial Italian Rocco Buttiglione.

The unprecedented upset was was triggered by Mr Buttiglione’s frank admittance during a job-vetting hearing with MEPs that he thought homosexuality was a “sin” and that he believed the primary role of women was “to have children and be protected by their husbands”.

His subsequent public utterance that single mothers were “not very good people” did not help.

Mr Barroso refused to remove Mr Buttiglione, and only did so on the eve of last month’s approval vote in Strasbourg when a humiliating rejection was inevitable.

Mr Barroso told MEPs that he had now made “sensible and necessary” changes, replacing Mr Buttiglione with Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini as Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner, and making other minor changes to appease the European Parliament.

British Labour leader in the European Parliament Gary Titley said yesterday: “The European Commission will be better, stronger and more legitimate for what has happened.

"We will have a commission with a constructive and positive relationship with the European Parliament over the next five years rather than a lame duck commission flapping through its term of office.

“I very much hope that tomorrow the European Parliament will grant the incoming commission the broadest possible support, from across the political spectrum. The sooner we can get back to the business of creating jobs, improving security and reducing world poverty the better.”

British Liberal Democrat leader in the European Parliament, Chris Davies, said: “The relationship between the elected parliament and the appointed commission has been changed for ever.

"The vast majority of MEPs will be content to bask in the glory of what has been achieved, while enjoying the sense that the wishes of parliament are now more likely to be respected if it ever demands the dismissal of an individual commissioner“.

Fellow Liberal Democrat MEP Andrew Duff said the dispute might be good for the prospects of agreeing Europe’s new constitution. “The crisis has breathed democratic life into the debate on the constitution. Parliament’s authority has grown, and the citizen is the winner,” he said.

But not all MEPs have been convinced by Mr Barroso’s last-minute concessions.

Scottish National Party European leader Ian Hudghton said: “We’ve seen something of a mini-reshuffle to the controversial line-up since last month, but many of us remain unconvinced that this is the right team to take forward the important work of the European Commission over the next few years.

"We also strongly oppose the undemocratic way in which we are allowed to vote on the team as a whole rather than individuals.”

Plaid Cymru Deputy Leader and MEP Jill Evans said yesterday: “This is not a team of commissioners that I can support. European commissioners have a very important job to do and this is certainly not the best way to choose them.

"If Mr Barroso wins approval for his team tomorrow I wish him well, but one of his priorities in the next few years must be to reform the undemocratic way in which commissioners are selected and appointed.”