Brussels, 09/09/2009 (Agence Europe) - Presenting the MEPs of the Greens/EFA group with his programme for his possible second term in office as President of the European Commission on Wednesday 9 September, José Manuel Barroso failed to silence all of the criticism of his sternest critics within the European Parliament, led by Germany's Daniel Cohn-Bendit, who is behind an active campaign to try to block his reappointment. When asked to explain why he wishes to remain in office for a duration of five years before he knows the outcome of the Irish referendum on Treaty of Lisbon, Mr Barroso repeated his opposition to the Greens' proposal of extending the mandate of the current Commission by three months. Legally, Mr Barroso does not feel that it is acceptable for the President of the Commission to be appointed for just three months, from the point of view of the institutions and the Treaty in force. Politically, he is of the opinion that this solution would only weaken the Commission. He believes that this kind of political uncertainty could be extremely damaging, just a few months ahead of the Copenhagen climate conference. "If you want a strong Europe, you need a strong Commission", he stressed. Climate policy and environmental protection, energy security, economic relaunch, financial rules, common agriculture policy, tax harmonisation, social Europe... On each of these major themes of Community policy, Mr Barroso had to face numerous complaints about his action since 2004, criticism, some of it quite virulent, of his policy, described as liberal and conservative, and over his closeness to a number of industrial pressure groups. "I have never been a Conservative", said the former Portuguese Prime Minister, who described himself as a "centre-right Democrat". Defending himself, Mr Barroso flagged up the resistance of the Council, which has scaled down the Commission's level of ambition over the climate and financial regulations. On the economy, Mr Barroso spoke of defending the internal market and competition rules and fighting large corporations as priorities of a future term in office. On social issues, he highlighted redistribution, solidarity and economic cohesion EU-wide. On the environment, he promised to "decarbonise" European society as a whole, and also the electricity production and transport sectors. "I do not intend to make ideological politics. I am seeking consensus for European politics. Part of my role is to bring together", the President of the Commission stressed. The date of 16 September has been set to find out his fate. (E.H./trans.fl)