BRUSSELS: There are concerns in Brussels about the new Commission president's autocratic style, writes Denis Staunton, European Correspondent.
The new European Commission President, Mr José Manuel Barroso, arrives in Dublin today at the start of a week that could determine the survival of his entire team of commissioners. On Thursday, Mr Barroso will meet leaders of the European Parliament's political groups, most of whom are threatening to reject the new Commission unless the controversial Italian nominee for Justice and Home Affairs, Mr Rocco Buttiglione, is moved to a different post.
The dispute over Mr Buttiglione's nomination began as a row over the Italian's views on homosexuality, marriage and immigration. But Mr Barroso's apparently uncompromising response to MEPs' concerns has turned the affair into a struggle for influence between two of the EU's most important institutions, the Commission and the European Parliament.
Mr Barroso's blunt dismissal of the MEPs' rejection of Mr Buttiglione came last week during a visit to the Estonian capital of Tallinn. "I think he is perfectly fit for this job ... I don't believe that some of his ideas, which are based on deep religious faith, represent an impediment," Mr Barroso said.
The remarks had the immediate effect of hardening opinion within the Socialists, the Parliament's second largest group, where most MEPs now want to vote down the entire Commission if Mr Buttiglione is not moved.
Sweden's prime minister, Mr Goran Persson, last week described Mr Buttiglione's remarks about gays and women as "a sensational lack of judgment". Many in Brussels are now questioning Mr Barroso's judgment too, as his allocation of key portfolios threatens to undermine the new Commission before it takes office.
Mr Barroso announced the Commission portfolios two weeks earlier than planned, during the August holidays, when most of Brussels and much of Europe's political class were away. Diplomats admired his guile in avoiding extended arguments or horse-trading and his apparent success in reconciling the conflicting expectations of the member-states.
With the benefit of hindsight, however, Mr Barroso would probably have avoided a great deal of trouble if he had himself taken a holiday and reflected for a fortnight before announcing his team.
The biggest surprise at first was the decision to give the French nominee, Mr Jacques Barrot, the unglamorous post of Transport Commissioner. The appointment prompted anguished articles in the French press about France's loss of influence in Europe and was interpreted by some commentators as a snub to Paris.
In fact, Mr Barroso offered Mr Barrot a number of portfolios, including Justice and Home Affairs, before the Frenchman accepted Transport. Mr Barrot's first choice had been the Internal Market, the job that went to Ireland's Mr Charlie McCreevy.
More serious were the difficulties surrounding the appointment of Ms Neelie Kroes, a Dutch businesswoman and former minister, as Competition Commissioner. Ms Kroes has served on the board of more than a dozen companies, some of which are likely to be involved in mergers or acquisitions that the Commission must assess.
Ms Kroes has sold all her shares and stock options and promised not to engage in any business activity after she leaves office. She has also promised not to take part in any decisions during her first year as Commissioner concerning companies for which she worked and to avoid some decisions concerning them for her entire term.
Mr Barroso's insistence on appointing Ms Kroes means that one of his most powerful commissioners will be under constant surveillance for possible conflicts of interest. Appointing Mr Buttiglione as Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner could undermine one of the EU's busiest agendas, covering such sensitive issues as immigration and asylum policy and judicial co-operation.
Even before Mr Buttiglione's appearance in front of the European Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee, his appointment appeared to be unwise. Mr Silvio Berlusconi's government, in which Mr Buttiglione is European Affairs minister, has taken an idiosyncratic approach to legal matters and initially opposed the introduction of a European Arrest Warrant, raising suspicions that Mr Berlusconi's own legal difficulties influenced his government's policy.
Mr Buttiglione's remarks to the European Parliament, when he described homosexuality as sinful and said that the purpose of marriage was to allow women to have children under the protection of a husband, were tame by his own standards. He sought to delete references to sexual orientation in anti-discrimination measures in the EU's constitutional treaty and has long made clear his robust views on gay marriage.
"I don't see the sense of it. Marriage is a protection for the mother. Where there is no mother, there is no marriage. Besides, gay marriages are seldom stable. AIDS is so widespread because homosexuals are animated by a tendency to infidelity," the Corriere della Sera newspaper quoted him as saying. Mr Buttiglione was accused of insulting single mothers over the weekend when he was quoted by Italian media on Saturday as saying: "Children who don't have a father but only a mother are children of a mother who is not very good."
Mr Barroso insists Mr Buttiglione's attitudes to gays and women are a private matter, but the Italian's defence of his country's summary deportation of thousands of immigrants who arrive at its shores is undoubtedly a matter of public policy.
"This is not an expulsion. It is a refusal for entry at the border, which is in accordance with international law," he told MEPs.
Mr Barroso made an excellent impression in Brussels immediately after his appointment by EU leaders in June, not least because of his articulate, engaging manner. He remains an unfamiliar figure in most European capitals, however, and concerns about his political judgment are growing amid mutterings within the Commission about his autocratic leadership style.
Some complaints are trivial, focusing on the lift reserved for Mr Barroso in the Commission's temporary headquarters and on the decision to employ six bodyguards - in contrast to Mr Romano Prodi, who had none at all until the Belgian government insisted on offering protection. But some commissioners complain that Mr Barroso appears reluctant to accept advice and that he underestimates the importance of building consensus within the Commission, with the European Parliament and with national governments.
Mr Barroso can relax this afternoon in the company of the Taoiseach, a leader with whom he enjoys excellent relations. Mr Ahern, who was instrumental in ensuring that Mr Barroso became Commission President, is pleased that Ireland's commissioner has secured one of the most important portfolios in the new Commission.
If Mr Ahern wishes to be of assistance to his new friend during this difficult week, he might suggest Mr Barroso rediscovers the sunny temperament he displayed last June and find a compromise with MEPs without delay, rather than risking a constitutional crisis before his term in office even begins.