European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation intolerance. The First European Medal of Tolerance was conferred in 2010 on the King of Spain Juan Carlos I for his lifelong dedication and devotion to the issue of tolerance and political reconciliation. The second and the third European Medals of Tolerance have been conferred on President of Croatia Ivo Josipovic and Ex-President of Serbia Boris Tadic in Brussels, in recognition of the Balkan statesmen’s “significant contribution to promoting, seeking, safeguarding or maintaining Tolerance and Reconciliation on the European continent”. In 2015 Samuel Eto'o, a famous football-player, has been awarded with the European Medal of Tolerance for his fight against
President of the European Commission This became evident when numerous candidates were put forward in 2004, and a centre-right vote won out over left-wing groups, France and Germany. José Manuel Barroso, elected Commission President that year, was then forced to back down over his choice of Commissioners, owing to Parliament's threat that it would not approve his Commission. In 2009, the European People's Party endorsed Barroso as its candidate for Commission President, and the EPP subsequently retained its position as largest party in that year's election. The Socialists responded by pledging to put forward a rival candidate at future elections. Once again, Barroso was forced