The Europe-wide profiles of the French commissioner Edith Cresson, who brought the whole Commission tumbling down, have been scathing as they quoted her infamous outbursts ranging from her remark that a quarter of all Englishmen are homosexual to her je ne regrette rien. She is described as a mitteranderiste and a typical French socialist in that, unlike socialists in this part of the world, she and her comrades see themselves as the elite, both socially and intellectually.
Our man, Pee Flynn, attracted no criticism in the damning report, but like his colleagues he too was profiled in the foreign press. The Daily Telegraph says he is "famed for his verbosity". The Guardian describes him as a "long-serving Fianna Fail party hack from the far west of Ireland. Cuts slightly absurd and posturing figure." Others attracted more serious abuse from the Guardian, being described as out of their depth (Santer and Gradin), arrogant (Marin), non-existent (van den Broek), absent (Bangemann) and deeply obscure (Oreja).