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Mr Barroso, formerly Portuguese PM, has been commission president since 2004 (Photo: Portuguese EU presidency 2007)

Barroso admits legitimacy problem for commission president post

European commission president Jose Manuel Barroso has said that the European elections, regularly marked by voter apathy and low turnout, create a legitimacy problem for his post.

"I really believe we have a problem there," said Mr Barroso responding to a question about whether European citizens should have the power to directly elect the person to fill his post.

He added that: "From a formal point of view, its a perfect system" but admitted that in practice it is different.

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Mr Barroso, formerly Portuguese PM, has been commission president since 2004 (Photo: Portuguese EU presidency 2007)

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