Brussels Diary

With the renomination of José Manuel Barroso now confirmed, the real fight over the next European commission can begin. The allocation of portfolios at the start of the commission president’s term is arguably his most important job because it sets the ideological framework for the next five years. Some portfolios, such as competition, are hugely powerful; others, such as multilingualism, were invented so more member states could have a representative on the ever-expanding “college” of commissioners. 

Most of the big member states have already staked their claims to one of the economic portfolios. Barroso’s next step of negotiating with national governments will be crucial. But however this goes, it seems inevitable that the Barroso II commission will be less committed to the free market than Barroso I. The focus of opposition to Barroso’s renomination as president was the accusation, chiefly emanating from France, that he is an “ultra-liberal.”

One appointment he made five years ago has not served him well in particular. Charlie McCreevy’s term as internal market commissioner has been little short of disastrous for the cause of a deregulated Europe. The former Irish finance minister, a convinced free-marketeer, showed little interest in being in Brussels and even less in regulating financial services where, apparently, the market knew best. Then came the crash. McCreevy proved politically inept too, defending to the Irish press his right to go to the races at Cheltenham, and saying that most Europeans would vote against the Lisbon treaty if they had the chance (a comment now being used by the Irish referendum “no” campaign). But who will fill his shoes?

Read more »

 Post a comment »

New year’s resolution: sack some European commisioners?

Extract: brussels diary

With the appointment of a new European commission due in the early part of the new year, Brussels officials are bracing themselves for the return of a familiar debate: should there be super-commissioners? With 27 people around the table, the commission is not only an unwieldy institution but also one with wildly varied workloads. The Lisbon treaty was supposed to slim the size of the college but Ireland is pressing to keep one commissioner per member state as part of a package of concessions to help stage a second referendum in 2009. Hence the argument for strengthening big portfolios, perhaps by attaching to them a junior commissioner to whom lesser tasks could be delegated.

The problem is that, since all commissioners are equal, creating a hierarchy contravenes a fundamental principle. The commission president, José Manuel Barroso, has experimented with five “vice-presidents” of the European commission who have an enhanced status but no formal extra powers. The results have been less than impressive. The “first” vice-president is Margot Wallstrom of Sweden, who was supposed to help persuade the European public of the merits of the Lisbon treaty. Although she has a reputation as a good communicator, Wallstrom disappeared without trace when the Irish rejected the document in their referendum. In any case, every one of the vice-presidents has been outshone by Viviane Reding, commissioner for information society and media, who represents tiny Luxembourg.

This is an extract taken for Prospect’s monthly Brussels Diary, by Manneken Pis, available in full to subscribers of the magazine.

 Read 1 comments »