EU appoints new trade commissioner

BRUSSELS, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- Catherine Ashton was confirmed on Tuesday as the new European trade commissioner after the departure of Peter Mandelson, the European Commission said.

She will soon appear in the trade committee of the European Parliament after assuming the duties of trade commissioner on Tuesday.

"I am delighted and very proud to have been asked to serve as commissioner, to be a part of the European response to the global challenges we face," she said.

Ashton was nominated last Friday by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, in agreement with Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

Ashton was a Labour member in the British House of Lords before she was confirmed as EU trade commissioner, as well as former Leader of the House of Lords and former Lord President of the Council in Gordon Brown's first cabinet in June 2007.