EU: European Union leaders will today sign a new constitutional treaty at a ceremony in Rome that could be overshadowed by the crisis surrounding Mr Jose Manuel Barroso's Commission team.
The Dutch European Affairs minister, Mr Atzo Niolai, whose country holds the EU presidency, confirmed that the leaders were likely to discuss the impasse over lunch, despite the fact that today's event is not a formal summit. "Everybody is discussing this...so it would be a rather strange situation if the European leaders wouldn't discuss this issue," he said.
Mr Barroso said yesterday that a Commission reshuffle could involve a number of portfolios but that "much fewer" than eight or 10 Commissioners could be involved.
"There may be several changes - that's a possibility," he said.
Mr Barroso hinted that Mr Rocco Buttiglione, the Italian conservative whose statements on homosexuals, women and immigration angered MEPs, could leave the Commission team altogether. "I cannot accept a Commissioner who would have problems with the parliament. I will consult with the governments concerned," he told France's Europe 1 Radio.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, who will attend today's ceremony, said in Rome yesterday that he supported Mr Barroso's handling of the crisis.
"What you have to do in politics is you have to go out and talk to groups. He listened. The issue that created this only happened a fortnight ago.
"As soon as they happened, he immediately convened meetings with the groups, several meetings last week, and talked extensively with national governments.
"When he saw that he had not got support for the Commission based on the nominations given to him by the governments, he did not go ahead.
"Now he has to reflect further. I don't see any great problem with that...it is uncharted waters," Mr Ahern said, shortly after he launched an information campaign on the new EU constitution.
Privately, government sources believe Mr Barroso will have to bring the controversy to an end "within days" and not leave it for a month, as Mr Barroso says he plans to do.
The row could be ended, one senior source speculated, by a straight swap between the Italian nominee, Mr Rocco Buttiglione, and his Greek counterpart.
Centre-right politicians in Europe yesterday warned Mr Barroso against getting rid of Mr Buttiglione without reshuffling other controversial Commissioners-designate. Luxembourg's prime minister, Mr Jean-Claude Juncker, said that a broader reshuffle was necessary.
"This is not just about Mr Buttiglione's candidacy, although that is, to put it diplomatically, a difficult case. There are three or four Commissioners who did not have the support of the parliament. We need a somewhat broader change," he said.
Mr Barroso needs the co-operation of EU leaders for a substantial reshuffle of his team, which is likely to involve the designated Commissioners for competition, energy, taxation, agriculture and justice and home affairs. The Taoiseach is unlikely to endorse any change which would move Mr Charlie McCreevy out of the internal market portfolio, unless Ireland's Commissioner is given an equally substantial economic portfolio, such as competition.
The leaders will sign the constitutional treaty on the Capitoline Hill, where the Treaty of Rome was signed in 1957.
The new treaty, which took two years to negotiate, must be approved by all EU member-states before coming into force.
Meanwhile, Pope John Paul, a close friend of Mr Buttiglione, stepped into the crisis yesterday saying it had to be resolved by showing respect for all points of view.
The 84-year-old pontiff disclosed his opinion on the Buttiglione affair during a meeting with outgoing Commission president Romano Prodi, one of many European leaders in Rome for today's signing of Europe's new constitution.
"I hope that the difficulties that have surfaced these days regarding the new Commission can find a solution of reciprocal respect for all of the positions put forward," he said.