José Manuel Barroso, President of the EC, and Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration, participated in the EP plenary session which focused on the election of the new President of the EP, Martin Schulz. The College of the EC then gathered for its weekly meeting and decided to launch infringement proceedings against Hungary on three issues: the independence of the national central bank, the retirement age of judges and the independence of the data protection authority.
On 18/01/2012 José Manuel Barroso attended the plenary session on the presentation of the programme of the Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU with Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Danish Prime Minister and President in office of the Council of the EU. The President expressed his conviction that Denmark would make a decisive contribution to the common European project. He recalled the EC's view of a comprehensive crisis response, going beyond fiscal consolidation, as put forward in the Roadmap to stability and growth in October 2011. José Manuel Barroso then reiterated that growth in Europe had to come from deepening the Single Market and he notably warned of protracted discussions on the European patent.
The President also made a statement on the international agreement. He described it as an essential element of a larger package of action to respond to the sovereign debt crisis, including a strengthened and anticipated European Stability Mechanism, which was urgently needed for the stability and coherence of the Euro area. José Manuel Barroso also explained that the EP and the EC were standing firmly together in the defense of principles like the primacy of EU law, democratic accountability, importance of EU institutions and the need to integrate this agreement into the Treaties.
José Manuel Barroso and Viviane Reding, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, eventually participated in a plenary debate on the situation in Hungary in the presence of Viktor Orbán, Hungarian Prime Minister.