[3] Barroso was at first seen as the lowest common denominator by outside commentators, but his proposed team of Commissioners earned him some respect[4] before triggering a crisis when the European Parliament objected to some of them, forcing a reshuffle.

[11] However his proposed Commission met with opposition from the Parliament, notably concerning Rocco Buttiglione and his conservative comments which were seen as incompatible with his role as European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security.

The opposition plunged the EU into a minor crisis before Barroso conceded to the Parliament and reshuffled his team, removing Buttiglione, and his Commission took office on 22 November 2004.

There was strong backing for Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt (EDLR) from Ireland, France and Germany who saw him as a "convinced European and also a fighter".

[12] However the federalist was opposed by Spain[12] the United Kingdom, Italy and Poland due to his vocal opposition to both the Iraq War and the inclusion of God in the European Constitution.

[4][11] Barroso rejected the idea of a "supercommissioner" and desired 1/3 of the commission to be women and that the most powerful portfolios should be handed to those most capable, not those from larger states.

[4] Candidates were proposed by national governments for each of the Commissioners and Parliament held hearings for them, to determine their suitability, between 27 September and 11 October of that year.

Committees questioned the suitability of Ingrida Udre (Taxation and Customs Union), László Kovács (Energy), Neelie Kroes (Competition) and Mariann Fischer-Boel (Agriculture).

However the most controversial was Rocco Buttiglione as European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security due to his conservative comments (on women's position in marriage and that homosexuality was a sin) which, in the eyes of some MEPs, made him unsuitable for a job securing civil rights in the EU[17] leading to the civil rights committee to be the first committee to vote down an incoming Commissioner.

Barrot, a returning Commissioner nominated as a Vice-President with the Transport portfolio, had received a suspended prison sentence in 2000 in relation to a funding scandal involving his political party.

He subsequently received a Presidential amnesty from then-French President Jacques Chirac and Barroso was unaware of the conviction until it was raised by Parliament.

[30] Peter Mandelson then left in October 2008 to return to national politics as Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, being replaced by Baroness Ashton.

[32] Ján Figeľ (Slovakia) was replaced by Maroš Šefčovič on 1 October 2009 after being elected leader of the Christian Democratic Movement on 21 September 2009.

They demanded Barroso set out clearly his policy guidelines for his next term and offer key posts in the commission to their group members.

Although Jacques Barrot wished to stay, French President Sarkozy favoured Michel Barnier and[45] Vladimír Špidla was also interested but his party is out of government.

[46] Benita Ferrero-Waldner lacks support in Austria and was replaced[46] Communications Commissioner Margot Wallström did not intended to return for another third term and has criticised her portfolio for not having any powers.

[50][51] Bulgaria's initial candidate, Rumiana Jeleva, was forced to step down due to opposition from MEPs, mainly the PES, who questioned her suitability and financial interests despite backing from the EPP (to which her national party belongs).

Barroso's Market Commissioner, Charlie McCreevy, put forward a text following far reaching amendments proposed by Parliament and protests from trade unions.

[9] One piece of legislation notably managed to win widespread public support, the Regulation on roaming charges in the European Union from Information Society & Media Commissioner Viviane Reding.

The legislation capped roaming charges for calls made from a mobile phone being used in an EU member state other than its own, which were seen as disproportionally high by the commission.

[58] Reding has seen the legislation as a success and stated that, despite initial fears, there have not been price rises on domestic calls as a result of the caps.

[8] 10 January 2007 marked the publication of the commission's first venture into an EU energy policy, which had an emphasis on fighting climate change with a binding target of a 20% cut in greenhouse gases by 2020.

[63] On 5 December 2012 the antitrust regulators of Barroso Commission fined Philips, LG Electronics, Samsung SDI, Panasonic, Toshiba and Technicolor for price fixing of TV cathode-ray tubes in two cartels lasting nearly a decade.

The leader of the socialist group, Martin Schulz, criticised him for his pro- war stance, optimised by his organisation of the Azores summit.

In keeping with the balance in the council, and Barroso's voting base in parliament, most Commissions stem from the centre-right with 13 from the EPP, 7 from ALDE and only 7 from the centre-left PES.

During that time, each of their portfolios was taken over by Andris Piebalgs, László Andor, Johannes Hahn, José Manuel Barroso, Michel Barnier and Siim Kallas, respectively.

[71] After the elections and parliament's promulgation on 1 July 2014, Lewandowski, Reding, Rehn and Tajani took up their seats as MEPs and were each replaced by the same commissioners as when they were on leave (Piebalgs, Hahn, Kallas and Barnier, respectively).

Early favourite François Lamoureux, previously in charge of Transport, had health problems and his being infirm was seen as a political blow to France and a final break from the Delors era, instead giving the commission a more liberal economic outlook.

[10] Concern has been expressed by Commissioners such as Günter Verheugen in regards to overlap of mandates and fractionalisation of the commission's Directorates-General, leading to "turf-wars" and a lack of co-ordination.

[79] A great deal of the commission's effort is expended in this in-fighting and weaker Commissioners, such as Verheugen, have not been able to gain sufficient control over their department.