Euphoric mood in Strasbourg as parliament seeks to extend power

The European Union may have been plunged into political crisis, but there was a mood of euphoria in Strasbourg, 27 October 2004,after the much derided European Parliament delivered a stark warning to national governments to start taking it seriously. Many predicted the Parliament would back down at the last minute and endorse José Manuel Barroso's new European Commission. In the end it was Mr Barroso who blinked first. The Parliament's threatened veto is a challenge to the EU's Member States, which jealously guard their right to send whoever they like to serve on the 24-member European Commission.