Brussels diary

Why does the once combative commission appear to be abandoning the consumer and siding with big business? Plus, Spain sides with Russia over the new plan for Kosovo
March 22, 2007
Barroso loses his bottle

Has the European commission lost its nerve? Last year its rhetoric was fiery and populist as it promised to deliver "results" for the consumer. Mobile phone operators, banks and even sun lotion-makers were in its sights, as were the big member states that failed to open electricity and gas to competition. But 2007 has found José Manuel Barroso, the commission president, in a mellower mood. His much-trumpeted energy paper allowed governments a whopping get-out from full-scale liberalisation of the sector. While full "unbundling" of energy companies is one possibility, a less radical option would allow the continent's energy giants to retain ownership of both infrastructure and supply as long as they were operated by different companies. Offering a liberalisation-lite option ensures that, when the paper goes to heads of government, including Germany's Angela Merkel, there is no chance of them opting for the full monty.

Last year, when Neelie Kroes, the competition commissioner, launched an inquiry into banks and payment cards, she proclaimed herself "fed up" with banks' "outrageous" profiteering. But her rhetoric was milder when she announced the results in January. Nor were her credentials as a consumer champion helped by a statement from Visa describing the announcement as "constructive."

The trend was the same when it came to draft legislation on restricting car emissions. A bitter rift opened between Stavros Dimas (environment commissioner) and Günther Verheugen (industry) over the extent to which the proposals should target car-makers. Verheugen, who hails from the land of BMW, Mercedes and Porsche, argued for a more "integrated" approach that would hit the fuel industry and other players too. After Merkel weighed in, making clear her concern for German car-makers, Barroso, to no one's surprise, backed Verheugen.

So what is the official gloss on this change of gear? The answer, says one insider, is that Barroso believes in pragmatism and thinks that "bidding too high" damages his credibility. In the old days, the commission saw itself as an outrider for European integration. It would press for the most ambitious possible outcome, relying on the support of several integrationist member states. Even if the maximalist position was not achieved, the cause would be advanced. Now not even Germany and France can be relied on to override national interests and, even if they did, that would be insufficient to carry a 27-nation EU.

A cynic might point out, however, that keeping Frau Merkel on side would be in Barroso's interests should he want a second term in office.


Commissioners clash over cars

The battle over car emissions is only the latest in a series of clashes between Dimas and Verheugen, but it has been the most fun. For weeks the two men refused to speak to each other despite being responsible for parts of the same paper, with the result that their first drafts directly contradicted each other. It was a minor triumph that, when the final document was presented, the two men appeared on a platform without a punch-up. But what has really infuriated Verheugen is Dimas's request to trade in his gas-guzzling German-made limo for a greener Japanese-made hybrid—destined to be the first non-European car on the commission forecourt. Verheugen says that rather than making such gestures, he spares the environment by rarely using his car when in Brussels because he lives near the office. (A similar excuse was made by Peter Mandelson, who is chauffeured around in a Jag.) Verheugen also hints darkly that others (Dimas?) are not so virtuous. He has now made it known that he also toyed with the idea of switching cars, not to a hybrid but to a hydrogen-powered vehicle. But supplies of hydrogen being scarce at the Rond Point Schuman, where the commission is based, Verheugen changed tack and opted for a diesel-powered BMW 730.

Divided over Kosovo

With the moment of truth in Kosovo looming, the EU is, to quote one senior official, completely split. The 27 nations only just managed to agree to back a long-awaited plan for the future of the province put forward by the UN's envoy, ex-Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari. The most ferocious opposition came from Slovakia, which made a trenchant defence of the Serb position. But it was Spain's adoption of a similar position that raised most eyebrows in Brussels. Partly because it is chairing the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (of which Russia is a key member), Madrid seems to be listening a great deal to Moscow. The Spanish premier José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero certainly has no qualms about upsetting a US administration for which he has never hidden his disdain—hence his susceptibility to the Russian message. Meanwhile, one diplomat talks of the "Moratinos factor," and of how the Spanish foreign minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos has been putting noses out of joint. Moratinos is, he says, a man of experience on the international stage and is not shy about reminding his colleagues of that fact.