Faced with a wave of euro-scepticism as it prepares to take office on November 1, the 25-member team headed by Jose Manuel Durao Barroso agreed that it must reconnect with the people of Europe.

"We need an independent, credible and strong Commission that can make good proposals at the service of European citizens," said Joao Vale de Almeida, Barroso's transition team chief.

Vale de Almeida was addressing a news conference after the Commissioners-designate emerged from a two-day brainstorming session in Leuven, a university town outside Brussels.

He denied that his remarks amounted to criticism of the outgoing Commission led by Romano Prodi of Italy, which has struggled to assert its authority even though the European Union successfully completed its biggest enlargement and launched the euro single currency during its watch.

The intention, he said, was to reverse a decline in the credibility of the executive since its heyday under Jacques Delors, who was Commission president from 1985 to 1995.

Since then the executive has seen its authority dented by the muscle-flexing of the European Parliament and of national governments which felt it had grown too powerful and intrusive.

The 25-nation bloc's forays into new areas such as foreign policy, defence, justice and home affairs over which the Commission has little or no say have also clipped its wings.

"There is no criticism of the Prodi Commission but we do note a shift in the balance of power between the institutions over the years," Vale de Almeida said.

The new Commission includes three former prime ministers, five former foreign ministers and three former finance ministers. Its main powers include proposing new laws and taking legal action against member states for breaching EU rules.

Vale de Almeida acknowledged that Barroso will be taking the helm of the Commission at a difficult time.

The centre-right former Portuguese prime minister will have to tackle a mood of apathy towards Europe, underlined by the record low turnout in June's European Parliament elections.

But he will also have to negotiate a new seven-year EU budget, fight for the survival of the bloc's first constitution in the face of referendums on the treaty in several member states, integrate poor new east European member states and try to improve the Union's lacklustre economy.

He said that to win the confidence of Europe's citizens the Commission would throw its weight behind ambitious plans to make Europe the world's most competitive economy by 2010.

This so-called "Lisbon agenda", which emphasises research and development, broad use of technology and effective pension and labour reforms has faltered under the Prodi Commission.

Unlike Prodi, whose Commissioners were scattered in offices across Brussels, Barroso has decided to assert authority by putting his team under one roof.

He is also keen for the Commissioners not to air their national and political differences as some members of Prodi's team have done over, for instance, the sensitive issue of Turkey's accession to the EU.

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