Juncker elected Commission president with 422 votes

ean-Claude Juncker was elected European Commission President on Tuesday (15 July) after promising a more social Europe and paying tribute to the major integrationist politicians of the previous generation.

The former Luxembourg PM, who has been on and around the EU stage for the last two decades, received 422 votes, easily surpassing the minimum 376 needed. Of the 729 MEPs that took part, 250 voted against him, 47 abstained and 10 votes were disqualified.

“The election of Jean-Claude Juncker to President of the European Commission is good for the European Union, it is good for Malta and it is a victory for democracy," David Casa, head of the PN's MEP delegation, said.

Result of EP [secret] ballot: @JunckerEU elected new EC President #EUtopjobs #POTEC #EP2014 Image via @UKIP pic.twitter.com/wr6wU8Q4lB

— VoteWatch Europe (@VoteWatchEurope) July 15, 2014

"He is the people's choice and has shown time and again that he is willing to listen and that he is willing to act. He has pushed forward a reform agenda and a concrete vision for Europe, his proposals for job creation and economic growth, his drive to make immigration asylum policy more equitable, have shown that he is the right person for the job," Casa said.

In a wide-ranging speech, Juncker touched upon the different issues that will face Europe in the next few years, speaking on the need for a true Common European Asylum system and for more solidarity between the north and south of Europe.

Congrats @JunckerEU for having been approved in EP vote (+428) as new EU Commission President. Good for Europe, good for small countries.

— Simon Busuttil (@SimonBusuttil) July 15, 2014

"Migration is not just a problem for Malta, Italy, Cyprus and Greece. It is a problem for Europe," Juncker said, adding that he will entrust a Commissioner with special responsibility for migration to work together with all member states and with the third countries most concerned.

In a 50-minute speech before the ballot, the centre-right politician said he wanted the European Commission to be "very political" and indicated he will try and revive the power of the institution - seen as sidelined after member states handled the long-running economic crisis.

He pledged to revive the "community method" - whereby the EU commission is the driver of EU law-making and strongly differentiated himself with the outgoing commission - which is associated with austerity-flavoured policies - by giving major focus to social issues in his speech.

"You can't achieve competitiveness by getting rid of social security," he said, noting that the "internal market is not more important than social affairs."

He pledged to use €300bn over the next three years for projects that focus on energy, infrastructure, and digital issues.

Other promises include making a lobbyist register obligatory, making documents around a controversial EU-US trade agreement public, and putting an end to the EU dealing with "every tiny problem".