New EU commissioners to make Brussels debut

The Czech Republic's first EU Commissioner, Pavel Telicka, and his nine colleagues from the newcomer member states will take their seats around the EU executive's enlarged table for the first time on Friday, a week after the bloc's historic expansion. The head of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, has denied that the new commissioners, formally approved by the European Parliament on Wednesday, will be second class members even though they will not hold their own portfolios for the moment. The current Commission is due to stand down in October after a four-year term, and all commissioners in the next executive body will share equal responsibilities.