Not for the first time, Peter Mandelson has been at his worst when handling his own publicity. In telling the BBC that he would not seek a second term as trade commissioner and would stand down in 2009, Mandelson aimed to make a pre-emptive strike against his old enemy Gordon Brown. Because he was going anyway, Mandelson said, Brown would be unable to sack him when he gets into No 10.
This intervention seems increasingly ill-judged. In Brussels, a commissioner's political weight is linked in part to his domestic contacts, and Mandelson has drawn attention to the mutual loathing between him and the man everyone assumes will be the next British prime minister. The risk now is that his presence in Brussels will provoke tension between the commission and No 10, making him a problem for José Manuel Barroso, the commission president. This is unfortunate, since Mandelson is one of the few stars in a lacklustre commission. He has an important portfolio, political experience at the highest level and is one of the few who can express themselves fluently in the language of debate in Brussels: English.
Unlike Mandelson, Barroso is desperate for a second term and is spending much of his time sucking up to those who will decide whether this will happen. Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, was the first object of the Barroso charm offensive, but Brown has not been far behind. In several meetings, Barroso has sought to convince the British chancellor that the European commission is a bastion of economic liberalisation.
At a recent gathering of the 27-strong college of commissioners, Barroso demonstrated his alarm at being associated with Mandelson's criticism of Brown. The discussion centred on the prospects of reviving the European constitution and the problems posed by Eurosceptic Poland and the Czech Republic. Mandelson intervened to urge fellow commissioners not to forget the difficulties posed by Britain. When Brown took over, Britain would, Mandelson argued, have a solidly pro-European Labour party headed by a very Eurosceptic leader, while the Conservatives would have the opposite: their most pro-European leadership for years but a virulently Eurosceptic party. At this point, Barroso cut in to end the criticism of his new friend, saying: "I think you're being a little hard on Gordon."
Missed opportunity on VAT
Brown himself has a few lessons to learn on how to manage his PR in Brussels. The treasury recently abandoned a hopeless and arcane dispute over the value of the British EU rebate, winning in return a concession from France on changes to the way VAT is applied—which will cut fraud substantially. In a sign of things to come, British diplomats were banned from speaking about the subject, referring every call back to the treasury bunker. The powers that be rejected the obvious spin: that Britain may have made an inevitable tactical retreat on one front, but won a much more lucrative settlement on the other. The idea of the "iron chancellor" backing down on anything is such anathema to his handlers that they chose to dispute the facts and deny any link between the two issues. Not surprisingly, the treasury's unconvincing denial failed to kill a story that was being confirmed by numerous other sources. As a result, all the papers panned Gordon for backing down on the rebate and very few gave him praise for the more valuable deal on VAT.
Frattini eyes the main chance
Throughout his presidency of the European commission, Romano Prodi usually appeared more interested in the politics of his native land than of Brussels. So it was with some relief that EU officials waved arrivederci to their boss and the "Italian mafia" at the top of the commission. The sentiment may be short-lived, however, since someone else in their midst plainly fancies himself as the next Italian prime minister. Franco Frattini, the vice-president and commissioner for justice and home affairs, is spending almost as little time in Brussels as Prodi used to. The reason? Silvio Berlusconi, the divisive ex-prime minister, may not be able to cling on for much longer as head of the centre-right Forza Italia party he founded.
Such a vacancy would provide a golden opportunity for Frattini. To press his claims, the Italian commissioner has missed no opportunity to remind the Italian media how he is championing his country's interests. When the Italian president, Giorgio Napolitano, got into a row with Croatia over the massacre of Italians during the second world war, anyone with sense would have urged the European commission to keep well clear. Frattini insisted that the commission issue a one-sided statement criticising the Croatians, thereby provoking a fierce backlash from Zagreb. More bizarre still, Frattini provoked an absurd row with the EU external relations commissioner, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, complaining that her directorate had not treated Italy with the respect it deserves. The slur in question? The lack of an Italian translation for a chunk of her directorate's website describing the treaty of Rome. Frattini can rest easy: the passage in question can now be read in the language of Dante.
