Barroso was adamant that there would be no first or second class commissioners with different voting rights and quipped that he wanted 24 'supercommissioners'. He promised that portfolios would be distributed not according to Member States' wishes but according to competences for a given role. He also pledged that if one individual commissioner did not meet his duties imposed by the treaty, he would ask the commissioner to resign.
He said that the biggest challenge lay not in "the Euro-scepticism of the few, but the Euro-apathy of the many. We must listen to those that voted in last month’s European elections. But we must also hear the silence of those, who for whatever reason, chose not to vote".
He praised the Constitutional Treaty which "consolidates and simplifies the Union", adding that it "strengthens our democratic base, by extending this Parliament’s powers, and by finding innovative ways to give a greater voice to national Parliaments and to Europe’s citizens".
Barroso highlighted the challenge of ratification and called on new Commission, this Parliament and the Member States "not to have a technocratic approach" but to show "political leadership and courage" to win that debate. He said that these arguments would have to be made primarily at Member State level but the Commission would provide credible and appropriate information.
