THE EU: Although not officially taking up their jobs until November 1st, some new members of the European Commission are already making the headlines.
Since her nomination last week to be in charge of agriculture, the Danish Commissioner, Ms Mariann Fischer Boel (61) has been beset by claims of conflict of interests.
She owns a 204-hectare farm which benefits from thousands of euros of EU subsidies, but has said that her husband runs the farm, pays the taxes and receives any EU subsidies.
She has made a point of ensuring that the matter is dealt with at once. A Commission spokesperson said: "Our legal service has received yesterday from her accountant a statement on that and an explanation."
EU rules demand that all commissioners must have no other occupation, whether it is paid or not, while they are in office.
Under these treaty rules, Ms Fischer Boel is clear, a commission official said. However, if there are to be any problems with her nomination they would come with the Code of Conduct. This Code looks at outside activities, financial interests as well as the spouse's professional activity.
In other cases, this code of conduct means some commissioners-to-be are doing a lot of resigning from current positions - such as the Dutch commissioner, Ms Neelie Kroes.
Appointed to what is arguably the most influential job in the Brussels executive, Ms Kroes has sat on the boards of Lucent Technologies Inc, Royal P&O, Nedlloyd NV, MMO2 plc and Volvo AB.
The Ducht daily newspaper, NRC Handelsblad, has referred to her as the most powerful woman in the Netherlands.
In Brussels, however, several EU officials are wondering what her closeness to the industry will mean for this big portfolio - which saw the current competition commissioner take on the likes of Microsoft.
The final decision on all commissioners' declarations of interests lies with the incoming Commission President, Mr José Manuel Durão Barroso.
Elsewhere, and for very different reasons, the future Italian Commissioner, Mr Rocco Buttiglione, has caused a stir in Brussels.
Mr Buttiglione, who as justice and home affairs commissioner will take on the high-profile fight against illegal immigration into the EU, said he supported a controversial German idea for a refugee camp in north Africa to process asylum-seekers trying to reach Europe.
He told Deutschlandfunk Radio on Monday that it was a "good idea". Such a camp would enable many refugees to come to Europe in a "completely legal way" if only they knew how, said the Italian.
Germany's interior minister, Mr Otto Schily, revived the idea recently after an incident last month where 37 African refugees spent nearly three weeks off the Italian coast in a German aid agency ship before finally being allowed to dock in a Sicilian port.
For its part, the European Commission is not keen on the idea. "We don't believe camps for asylum-seekers are feasible," a Commission spokesperson said yesterday.
Before the new commissioners take up their jobs at the beginning of November, they will have to be approved by MEPs.