Once a Maoist?
When he was Nato secretary general, George Robertson once amused himself at a White House dinner by regaling George W Bush and Donald Rumsfeld with stories of the radical pasts of their European allies. Robertson started by pointing out that he himself had cut his political teeth demonstrating against American military bases; Javier Solana had opposed Spain joining Nato; Otto Schily, the German interior minister, had been the defence lawyer for the Baader-Meinhof gang. As consternation grew around the dining table, Robertson reached his pi?ce de r?sistance - the Portuguese prime minister, Jos? Manuel Dur?o Barroso, was a former Maoist. Now the Maoist is president of the European commission. Apparently Barroso does not enjoy discussing this period of his life, but he dealt with it confidently enough in his first press conference in Brussels, saying that he looked back with fondness on an exciting time, and that at the law faculty of Lisbon University during the revolution there had really been only two political choices - Maoist or pro-Soviet communist.
Portuguese contemporaries of Barroso say that this is half true. There were more moderate political factions around on campus, but they were in a minority. It was a very strange period - in the revolutionary atmosphere of the time, students were able to get staff sacked and approve their own grades. But while the Maoists may have been 40 per cent of the student body, they enjoyed only about 1 per cent of the support of the Portuguese electorate. By 1978, democracy had taken hold and the ambitious Barroso had decided to join Portugal's main centre-right party. But some Portuguese analysts reckon that there is still a trace of Maoist thinking in the way he conducts himself. Barroso, says one, "has a long march mentality" - he was defeated twice for the leadership of Portugal's Social Democrats, but eventually made it to the top. He is also very slow to trust outsiders and is known to rely on a tight circle of loyal advisers. This latter trait could prove a bit of a problem at the commission, since one of Romano Prodi's errors was surrounding himself with old cronies from Italy. Still, Barroso comfortably outshone Prodi when the two appeared together on a platform in Brussels. Although Portuguese commentators say that he has a reputation for being a dull speaker, he seemed sparklingly witty and to the point compared to his predecessor - who sat next to Barroso, looking increasingly glum.
It was the EPP wot done it
The British are quietly crowing about Barroso's appointment and argue that it is a sign of French weakness that Jacques Chirac did not veto the man who hosted the pre-war Azores summit and who has a reputation as an economic reformer of Thatcherite zeal. But what really clinched Barroso's victory - and sunk the Belgian, Guy Verhofstadt - was the support of the European People's party. The EPP had made it clear that, as the largest faction in the parliament, it would refuse to endorse any candidate who did not hail from its own family. The party leaders see this as a vital step in asserting a link between the European elections and the governance of Europe. Once it became clear that the EPP was serious about its veto, European leaders shrank from confronting the parliament, which meant that the pool of candidates diminished sharply. Chris Patten was initially put forward as the EPP candidate, but probably only as a decoy to draw French fire. Once the French had vetoed one EPP candidate, they could not afford to wield a second veto - especially since Chirac himself is a member of the EPP. So the way was cleared for Barroso.
Barroso a friend of Britain?
It is unlikely that Barroso will prove entirely congenial to the British. Like most Portuguese politicians, he has not a trace of British suspicion towards Europe. On the contrary, he is a passionate believer in the union, which helped his country to emerge from the chaos of revolution and decolonisation and achieve rapid modernisation. On the other hand, the Portugues e experience makes Barroso particularly interested in the power of EU enlargement to spread stability, prosperity and peace. As a result, he is likely to emphasise the further enlargement of the EU to include Turkey and the Balkans, rather than federalist projects for the deepening of Europe around a central core of western European countries.
The new Ireland
The start of the Dutch presidency of the EU means that the European council also has a new president. Bertie Ahern from Ireland has given way to Jan Peter Balkenende from the Netherlands. Balkenende has struggled to be taken seriously as a grown-up politician - or indeed as a grown-up of any description - because of his resemblance to Harry Potter. But the idea that he is a goody two shoes took a knock on the night that European leaders finally clinched an agreement on the constitution. While most of them crawled off to bed - or rushed home - Balkenende repaired to Kitty O'Shea's, a local Irish pub, and drank pint after pint of Guinness. Every now and then the Dutch prime minister would shout, "Where's Bertie?" clearly believing that it could only be a matter of time before Ahern would stroll through the door. Alas, it never happened. So where was Bertie? In the bar of the Conrad, Brussels' poshest hotel, quietly sipping champagne. That's the new Ireland for you.
