Biografische schets Josep Borrell (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - For the next two and a half years the European Parliament will be guided by Josep Borrell, a 57-year old Socialist from Catalonia.

Mr Borrell, who speaks Spanish, Catalan, French and English, was a treasury minister and then a transport minister under former socialist prime minister Felipe Gonzales in the 1980s and early 1990s.

He was nominated as the socialist candidate to head the parliament after his party did so well in the European elections - Spain was one of the few countries in the EU where the ruling party did not get pummelled by the electorate.

The trained aeronautical engineer, who was fiercely against the war in Iraq, says he is a committed European.

"Europe is more than a political experience to me, it's a vital project. I am a European, a Spaniard and a Catalan. But I am not from the old or the new Europe. I am just an ordinary European", said Mr Borrell in his acceptance speech on Tuesday (20 July).

An unknown

But despite his European sentiments, Mr Borrell is a relative unknown.

He is the only person, since the first parliament elections, to be become president of the assembly without having previously been an MEP.

This means he will have a tough job initially just trying to get to know the workings of the parliament with its 732 MEPs from 25 member states.

He will have to manage the seven political groups in the parliament - the centre-right, the socialists, the liberals, the greens, the leftists, the Union of nations and the eurosceptics.

Mr Borrell's job

As president, his main role is to represent the parliament externally, chair plenary sessions and make sure the rules of procedure are followed.

The Spaniard will also have to follow in the footsteps of the very successful Pat Cox who significantly raised the profile of the assembly.

Another issue which will weigh on this mind is the record-low turnout in the June elections which he acknowledged in his acceptance speech.

"We need to build this institution ... speaking a language people can understand," he told MEPs.

The Spaniard also mentioned some key areas for the new parliament to concentrate on including the installation of the new Commission, the plans for the next EU multiannual budget and the rules underpinning the euro.

Recently the assembly has become much more vocal on the EU scene.

The Parliament's role

It flexed its muscles with demands that the new commission president be of the same political hue as the biggest group in the parliament.

It has also decided to take a public argument with the European Commission over airline passenger data exchange with the US to court.

Some influential legislation in the last parliament include anti-pollution rules, more visible health warnings on cigarette packets and allowing the commission to apply emergency safeguard measures to animal feed.

More generally, the parliament's role is as co-legislator with the member states, it also exercises significant power over the EU budget and can set up temporary committees of inquiry (such as into the foot and mouth disease outbreak some years ago).

However, whatever good work has been achieved by the assembly tends to get marred by a persistent gravy-train image.

MEPs once failed during the last legislative period to reform the opaque expenses system - something which was splashed across UK and German tabloid papers earlier this year.