Barroso seduces Parliament but fuels industry concerns 

Jose Manuel Durão Barroso has been approved by MEPs to follow in Romano Prodi's footsteps as the next Commission President. In a secret ballot, 413 MEPs voted for Barroso with 251 voting against.

Barroso was adamant that there would be no first or second class commissioners with different voting rights and quipped that he wanted 24 'supercommissioners'. He promised that portfolios would be distributed not according to Member States' wishes but according to competences for a given role. He also pledged that if one individual commissioner did not meet his duties imposed by the treaty, he would ask the commissioner to resign.

He said that the biggest challenge lay not in "the Euro-scepticism of the few, but the Euro-apathy of the many. We must listen to those that voted in last month’s European elections. But we must also hear the silence of those, who for whatever reason, chose not to vote".

He praised the Constitutional Treaty which "consolidates and simplifies the Union", adding that it "strengthens our democratic base, by extending this Parliament’s powers, and by finding innovative ways to give a greater voice to national Parliaments and to Europe’s citizens".

Barroso highlighted the challenge of ratification and called on new Commission, this Parliament and the Member States "not to have a technocratic approach" but to show "political leadership and courage" to win that debate. He said that these arguments would have to be made primarily at Member State level but the Commission would provide credible and appropriate information.

 

Barroso's statement ruling out a supercommissioner for economy and competitiveness might upset some Member States who had supported industry's wishes on the Lisbon agenda. It was said that the new Commission President got the support from France and Germany after having promised that Germany would get the Lisbon supercommissioner and France would receive the competition portfolio in Barroso's future team. If this were true, the new Commission President might be in for a conflict with the two big countries, which would not bode well for the beginning of his mandate.

Although there is no official reaction from EU industry yet, representatives from industry federations told EurActiv that they are worried about Mr Barroso's rejection of the idea for a supercommissioner. Meanwhile, NGO speakers are afraid that the new Commission President will pay little attention to the environment, social issues and sustainable development. Several MEPs during the Parliament debate on the new President underlined that Barroso was not always consistent in his presentations to the political groups, saying one thing to one group and another to other groups.