'Last chance' Commission takes office

Juncker and his seven vice presidents and 20 European Commissioners officially took up their duties in Brussels on Saturday, replacing the outgoing president, Jose Manuel Barrosso and his team.

"Now it's time to roll up the sleeves and get down to work. Europe's challenges cannot wait," Juncker said in a statement released by his office as he embarked on his five-year term.

"As of today, my team and I will work hard to deliver Europe the new start we have promised," he added.

Prior to taking office, Juncker pledged to make creating jobs and economic growth one of his top priorities. Among the first concrete measures his Commission is expected to take is to begin the implementation of a 300-billion-euro ($380 billion) stimulus package.

Austerity versus stimulus

This comes despite disagreement between two of the bloc's biggest economies about the correct path to follow. While Germany and others are seeking more austerity as a way of bringing down national deficits, others, such as the government of Socialist French President Francois Hollande, favor the idea of spending their way back into economic well-being.

There was little fanfare as the new Commission took officially began its work on Saturday, following months of political wrangling over some of the key appointments.

The first vice president, former Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans, is to serve as Juncker's right-hand man, while another former foreign minister, Federica Mogherini of Italy, has taken over from Britain's Catherine Ashton as the 28-member bloc's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy.

Slovakia's Maros Sefcovic has taken over responsibility for energy policy from Germany's Günther Oettinger, who remains in the Commission, but has now taken over the digital economy and society portfolio.

Other key appointments include France's Pierre Moscovici, who is the new Economy Commissioner and Jyrki Katainen of Finland, who now holds the jobs and growth portfolio.

Both Moscovici and Katainen are to take center stage on Tuesday, when they are to present the European Commission's autumn economic forecast.

'Last chance' Commission

Juncker, who has described his team as the "last chance" Commission, appears to be under no illusion about the magnitude of the job that awaits him and his team - particularly after anti-EU parties made significant gains in several of the bloc's 28 states in last May's European elections.

"Either we succeed in bringing Europe's citizens together, to drastically reduce the level of unemployment and offer a way forward for our youth, or we fail," Juncker told the European Parliament last month.

pfd/tj (dpa, AFP)