WRAPUP 2-EU Parliament backs new European Commission

* European Parliament approves new EU Commission

* EU executive handed strong mandate for five-year term

* Economic issues, EU recovery top Commission agenda

By John O'Donnell

STRASBOURG, France, Feb 9 (Reuters) - European legislators approved the make up of the next European Commission on Tuesday, clearing the way for the executive to take office after months of delay and with a wealth of policy issues to tackle.

In a vote carried by 488 to 137, the European Parliament handed Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso a strong mandate for his second five-year term, which he has said will focus on delivering jobs and growth to the EU's hard-pressed economy.

"I believe that our economic and social situation demands a radical shift from the status quo," Barroso told the assembly before he won approval for his line-up of 26 commissioners.

"What Europe needs to succeed is policies focused on results, better governance structures and confidence in our ability to solve the problems we face," he said, adding that the euro single currency remained a bedrock of the union.

Approval of the Commission, which should have taken office in November, comes as the 27-country bloc faces a deficit and debt crisis, particularly in Greece, that has put extreme pressure on the euro currency, used by 16 of the EU's states.

Barroso will attend a special economic summit in Brussels on Thursday at which Greece will figure prominently, even if it is not officially on the agenda, and members of his Commission will be focused on dealing with the economic stability issues thrown up by Greece, Spain and other deficit-ridden EU states.

The Commission has far-reaching power to initiate legislation and to provide oversight on issues ranging from mergers and acquisitions to trade, financial market regulation, economic and monetary affairs and the environment.

Barroso was backed by EU leaders for a second term last June, but approval of his line-up was stalled by delays in the ratification of the EU's Lisbon reform treaty, a dispute over who should get two senior EU jobs and opposition in parliament to one of Barroso's original Commission nominees.

Analysts say the delays in forming the new executive make it all the more important that it gets down to work immediately.

"There is no time to lose as the agenda is packed with pressing issues like the reform of financial regulations (and) the need to respond to the severe consequences of the global crisis," said Janis Emmanouilidis of the European Policy Centre, a Brussels-based think-tank.

"President Barroso and his team need to provide a new sense of orientation in an EU which has suffered from a multiple lack of leadership."

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Three of the most high-profile posts in the new Commission will be the internal market portfolio under France's Michel Barnier, the monetary affairs job taken on by Finland's Olli Rehn and the competition brief led by Spain's Joaquin Almunia.

Barnier has said he plans to tighten regulations in the wake of the economic and financial crisis, a move that has raised concerns in London, Europe's leading financial centre, where banks fear excessive restrictions will inhibit their earnings.

Rehn will be at the forefront of the battle to prevent a full-blown crisis in Greece, where the deficit and debt pile have led to speculation in financial markets that the government could default on payments.

The crisis has pushed the euro down to eight-month lows against the dollar, sent yields on Greek bonds soaring and threatens to spill over to other deficit-laden southern European countries such as Spain, Portugal and Italy.

Almunia, the outgoing economic and monetary affairs chief, will be in charge of monitoring mergers and acquisitions and any anti-competitive or cartel-like behaviour in the EU or affecting the EU and its citizens. (Writing by Luke Baker; editing by Jon Boyle)