Brussels, 21/01/2005 (Agence Europe) - On 21 January, President Barroso and eleven new members of the European Commission took the oath during a solemn hearing at the Court of Justice in Luxembourg, in the presence of Jean-Claude Juncker and the Grand Duke and Duchess of Luxembourg (the twelve others were already members of the Prodi Commission). The President of the Court, Vasilios Skouris, recalled on this occasion the role that the Commission plays as Guardian of the Treaties and also as “Amicus Curiae”. The observations that it sends to the Court in each preliminary question make an enormous contribution to forming a Community vision of the problems taken before the Court, President Skouris stated, saying that the Court and Commission have in many respects “largely complementary” functions. President Skouris also noted the “difficult and delicate” task expected of the Commission in an enlarged Union: the increased size of the EU will no doubt entail a corresponding increase in the Commission's responsibility as Guardian of the Treaties, he said. Another great challenge is, in his view, the indispensable “meticulous preparation” for entry into force of the European Constitution. With the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, he added, the “tasks relating to strengthening fundamental rights” will develop considerably.
Jose Manuel Barroso, Franco Frattini, Olli Rehn, Louis Michel, Charlie McCreevy (who spoke in Irish), Laszlo Kovacs, Vladimir Spidla, Neelie Kroes, Peter Mandelson, Mariann Fischer Boel and Andris Piebalgs all read the same text, solemnly pledging to carry out their duties in full independence in the general interest of the Communities, without calling for or accepting instructions from any other government or body, stating that Member States will not influence the behaviour of the Commissioners and promising not to accept, either during the duration of their term of office or afterwards, tasks that are not compatible with these functions, and respecting their duty in all honesty and scrupulousness.
President Barroso briefly took the floor stressing that: his country's (Portugal) transition from dictatorship to democracy, an experience shared by many Commissioners, “has taught me the true value of a Union founded on principles and rule of law”. On the subject of the Commissioners' 'prime duty of independence”, Mr Barroso noted that, by becoming members of the Commission, “we do not have to give up our nationalities” and each of us brings our experience, our traditions and our own specific national sensitivity to help build a Europe that is “strengthened by its diversity and united by its common values”. He said he was pleased to see the Union “growing larger but also more consolidated”. Mr Barroso recalled the role of the Court, saying it is “the summit of the European legal order”, the guarantor of our democratic values, and that its efforts, carried out with “devotion, intelligence and wisdom”, have been a “driving force for European integration”.