There were supposed to be just 15 European Commissioners this time, not 27. And though not all the candidates were popular with the European Parliament, they have been appointed anyway.
 
Each time a new country joined the European Union, a new commissioner's post and portfolio was created. By the time the number reached 27 (there are now 27 EU member states) ideas for yet another portfolio had dried up.

'Executive board'
The Lisbon Treaty was meant to do away with this system and shrink this 'executive board' of the EU.

But Ireland voted against the treaty in a referendum, and to get Dublin back on board, the proposed reduction in commissioners was dropped (EU countries generally like to have at least one 'home-grown' commissioner in Brussels).
 
So the European Commission has to go on finding 27 suitable candidates - 26 plus a chairperson, that is.

And the European Parliament (EP) has to go on approving them. In the case of Bulgaria's initial candidate, the EP said 'no', and a new candidate was found: economist and World Bank vice-president Kristalina Georgieva.

Click on the Commissioners to read their profiles
 
New team
That gave the MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) the feeling that they do count. But any good that may have done was soon overshadowed by good old-fashioned party political rows over a number of other candidates. One of them being Dutch politician Neelie Kroes, who having served as competition commissioner, was a candidate to take over as information society and media commissioner.
 
She finally got the job after a number of compromises and eating a big chunk of humble pie. Finally, three months after the mandate of the old commission expired, there is a new team of 27. The whole process took two weeks longer than planned because of the Bulgarian candidate issue.
 
Challenges
The biggest challenges for the new commission are to make further reforms to the financial system, secure Europe's reputation as a 'knowledge economy' - an issue that's been on the backburner in recent years - and preparation for what is known as the EU's '2020 strategy'.
 
The new European Commission has been approved - but will it be a cause of pride for the commissioners and their respective nations, or will it engender a massive sense of relief?