New European Executive Rejected by Parliament

STRASBOURG, France, October 28, 2004 (ENS) - European Commission President-elect José Manuel Barroso has been forced by a coalition of legislators, including Greens, to back away from presenting his 24 new commissioners to the European Parliament for approval. Barroso, of Portugal, whose new EU executive was due to take office on Monday, decided not to test the vote.

Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Monica Frassoni, co-presidents of the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament, announced Tuesday that their group had no confidence in Barroso's proposed team and would vote to reject the new EU executive.

Barrosos' proposed Commission is unacceptable, the Greens/EFA explained, because, "They overwhelmingly favor industry and the market over social rights and the environment. Their ideology will make adequate prioritization of sustainability, social protection and protection of the environment impossible."

The current Commission under President Romano Prodi has agreed to remain in office to ensure continuity until a new Commission is voted in by the European Parliament.

European Commission President-elect José Manuel Barroso is a former Prime Minister of Portugal. (Photos courtesy Government of Portugal)

"I need more time to look at this issue and to consult with the European Council further so that we can have strong support for the new Commission. It is better to take time to get it right," said Barroso.

The setback comes just two days before a new European Constitution is to be signed.

Parliament President Josep Borrell said that the situation "brings the EU into political virgin territory." The Treaties provide that Parliament should give its opinion on the new Commission before November 1, but "if there is no proposal, Parliament cannot express an opinion."

The Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in groups lined up against the Barroso Commission number 371, slightly more than half of the 731 MEPs seated in the legislative body.

The commissioner proposed by Barroso who has drawn the most controversy is Rocco Buttiglione proposed by Italy as Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs. A conservative Catholic, his opinion that homosexuality is a sin, expressed in an interview before Parliament earlier this year, brought condemnation from more tolerant quarters.

Rocco Buttiglione of Italy

"Italy is maintaining Rocco Buttiglione," Foreign Minister Franco Frattini was quoted by ANSA news agency as saying as he left the Senate in Rome.

On behalf of the largest dissenting group in Parliament, the 200 member Socialist Group (PES), Martin Schulz said on Friday, ""Despite the risk of a serious institutional crisis, Mr. Barroso has still not given us a clear statement that Mr. Buttiglione will be removed from the justice and home affairs portfolio." PES is the second largest group in Parliament.

"Rocco Buttiglione has shown that he cannot separate his personal convictions from his political pursuits," said Greens Cohn-Bendit and Frassoni. "He is absolutely unsuitable for the job of EU Justice, Freedom and Security chief."

Daniel Cohn-Bendit is co-president of the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament. (Photo courtesy European Parliament)

The dissenting groups also object to László Kovács of Hungary, who was to be Commissioner for Energy. The Greens said he would be "a commissioner in constant training."

Neelie Kroes of The Netherlands, would be Commissioner for Competition "would be part time," they said. Kroes resigned from the Board of Directors of AB Volvo as of September 1, 2004 to take up the position of commissioner-designate.

Mariann Fischer Boel of Denmark, would be Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development is viewed as too vague and evasive to succeed.

German Green MEP and Vice-president of the European Parliament's Agriculture Committee Friedrich-Wilhelm Graefe zu Baringdorf (Photo courtesy European Parliament)

Spanish MEP David Hammerstein said, "Commissioner designate's answers on GMO contamination were worryingly evasive. She said that contamination of seeds should be as low as possible to protect organic and conventional farming, but did not dare to give a concrete number."

The Environment Commissioner designate, lawyer Stavros Dimas of Greece, did not run into any major criticism. He has identified his early priority areas as climate, environment and health, and biodiversity.

"Environmental protection is precisely the area where non-action can be very costly," Dimas told the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety during his September 29 parliamentary interview.

Answering a question by Chris Davies of Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) as to "which environmental problem makes him cry," Dimas pointed to animal testing in the framework of the proposed chemicals authorization plan REACH - an answer greeted with applause. He promised to listen to nongovernmental organizations, and not just industrial stakeholders, in connection with the REACH reform.