Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was the first to open fire, accusing EU commissioners of causing trouble for national governments.
"There is much to change in the European institutions, for example the attitude of the European commissioners, who leave governments in difficulties with their declarations," he said at the conference of conservative party leaders just before the summit.
"They have nothing to talk about. Their job is to tell member states how to achieve the objectives set by the heads of state and government. Governments should not have to find themselves under the newspaper spotlight every three days thanks to their statements. All this serves only to alienate citizens further from the European institutions," Berlusconi further elaborated.
Next, French President Nicolas Sarkozy pointed the finger at Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, claiming he is responsible for the 'no' result in the Irish referendum. Answering a question about whether Commission President José Manuel Barroso should be held responsible for the negative result, Sarkozy answered:
"We can't blame Barroso for this. Choose another and a better one, choose a Mandelson for instance," he said, lashing out at the commissioner's stance in global trade negotiations.
The 'no' camp in Ireland had indeed frequently blamed Mandelson for threatening the future of Irish agriculture by freeing up agricultural trade at the WTO talks. European People's Party leader Joseph Daul had also accused Mandelson of "selling out European agriculture" (EurActiv 10/06/08).
Although Sarkozy's attack on Mandelson was described as "playful", it came just days after the French Ambassador to the EU Pierre Sellal slammed the Commission for its lack of enterprise. Referring to the EU executive's late reaction to widespread anger over rising fuel costs, he said "it is very difficult to justify your existence through inaction" (EurActiv 19/06/08).
Speaking to EurActiv, the leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Graham Watson criticised Sarkozy's attack on Mandelson.
"I think that somebody who reaches the elevated position of being president of his country should behave with rather more dignity than just trying to pin a whole series of different problems on one person," Watson said.
Ask to comment on recent criticism from member countries, Commission President José Manuel Barroso made a rather lengthy statement at the final press conference, finally stating that the EU executive does not accept any form of pressure.
