Austrian To Head Enlargement Negotiations İn European Commission

The new president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, assigned portfolios Wednesday to the 28 members of the European Commission, according to a commission statement.



According to the statement, the commission will have seven vice presidents, each of whom will lead a "project team." The vice presidents will be "steering and coordinating the work of a number of commissioners in compositions that may change according to need and as new projects develop over time," the statement said.



Austrian Johannes Hahn was chosen as the EU neighborhood and enlargement commissioner. He will be responsible for continuing accession negotiations, "notably with the Western Balkans," the statement said.



"Following the extensive enlargement of the Union in the last decade, the next five years will be a period of consolidation, with no further enlargement taking place during our mandate," Juncker wrote in a letter to Hahn.



Austria was one of the EU countries that opposed Turkey's EU membership bid. However, EU officials said Hahn would make no radical changes in the negotiations with Turkey.



Hahn was the European commissioner for regional policy under Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.



The European Commission is the European Union's executive branch. It is responsible for drafting laws, implementing decisions and negotiating trade deals with international partners. 



www.aa.com.tr/en - Brüksel