RIGA — Estonia ended up with the most prestigious position on the newly-approved European Commission of the three Baltic states.

The European Parliament approved the new Commission line-up Tuesday in Strasbourg, France overwhelmingly, with 488 in favor, 137 against and 72 abstentions. Estonia’s Siim Kallas retains his vice president position, this time in charge of transport.

Meanwhile Lithuania’s former finance minister Algirdas Šemeta takes Dalia Grybauskaitė former slot on the Commission after she left to become president of Lithuania. Latvia’s Andris Piebalgs, also a former finance minister, stays on the Commission to head development. Neither Šemeta nor Piebalgs are among the five vice presidents. The Portugese José Manuel Barroso remains EC president.

The European Commission is the European Union’s executive body, drafting proposals for new European laws and managing the day-to-day business of implementing EU policies and spending EU funds.