Parliament back in session

Written by Andrew Duff and published in www.ft.com on Tue 20th Jul 2004

Shortly after 9 o'clock this Tuesday morning, up to 732 Members of the European Parliament will shuffle into their seats in the hemicycle in Strasbourg. Just under one-third are women. The MEPs represent 455 million European citizens in the twenty-five member states of the European Union. They are drawn from almost 170 national or regional political parties.

At the start of its sixth five-year term, the assembly will be divided into at least seven party political groups. Although the figures are still provisional, it is certain that the largest group, with about 268 members, will be the European People's Party-European Democrats (EPP-ED), a bizarre coalition of pro-constitution Christian Democrats and anti-constitution conservatives. Next are the socialists, with 200 members (PES). Third are the liberals, now formed into a new group called the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), whose 88 members include 11 French from Francois Bayrou's UDF party, who were formerly aligned with the EPP. The Greens take fourth place, in coalition with six regionalists, making 42 in all (Greens/EFA). Fifth are the communists, with 41 MEPs, including two from Sinn Fein (EUL/NGL). The eurosceptic group comes next, including 11 MEPs from the British far right, with 32 MEPs (ID). A smaller right wing group, including Fianna Fail, scrapes in with 27 (UEN). There are 34 independent MEPs, including the DUP from Northern Ireland, Vlaams Blok from Belgium and the French Front National, who are too idiosyncratic to achieve cohesion of any sort.

The first job of the new Parliament is to elect its own President. There are three candidates: Spanish socialist Josep Borrell, Polish liberal Bronislaw Geremek and French communist Francis Wurtz. Wurtz is urging his supporters to support Borrell after he, as expected, is knocked out of the race. Many of them, however, might not. Geremek is a highly attractive proposition for many MEPs, especially those from the new member states. A medieval historian, Geremek was the brains behind the Polish Solidarity movement which, years ago, triggered the avalanche of anti-Soviet revolution in Central and Eastern Europe. The fact that both he and Borrell are first-time MEPs is interesting. Geremek has contributed with his moral integrity and intellectual force to the deepening and widening of European integration. As a Spanish MP, Borrell was an influential member of the Convention that drafted the new EU Constitution. Both incomers to the Parliament are better known than many veteran MEPs.

The President of the Parliament is elected to serve for half of the five-year legislature. Traditionally, the choice of President has been fixed by an agreement between the two largest groups. Five years ago, the socialists were trounced by a stitch-up between the EPP and the liberals to get Pat Cox elected to the chair for the second part of the mandate. Cox, the first Liberal President since Simone Veil in 1979, has been an outstanding holder of the office. He was instrumental in getting the accession states to engage with the European Parliament. But he was also the first President of the Parliament to be taken seriously by the club of EU heads of government. That the European Parliament is now a mature and sophisticated player in the constitutional process of the Union is due in no small way to Cox. Paradoxically, Cox's success has meant that the choice of his successor can be more meritocratic than precedent allows. Both Borrell and Geremek would be good Presidents of the Parliament. Neither needs or deserves a party political fix to get elected. Borrell, indeed, is a bit demeaned by the deal done between PES leader Martin Schulz and EPP-ED leader Hans-Gert Poettering which is designed to get Borrell succeeded by Poettering himself in the second half of the mandate. The voting on Tuesday promises to be rather more fluid than Poettering would like. Many EPP-ED members can be expected not to vote for Borrell. Similarly, if Geremek does not win this time, but can be persuaded to stand again in January 2007, many socialists will then prefer him to Poettering.

There is a second election in town this week. After Tony Blair blocked the nomination of Liberal Guy Verhofstadt as President of the European Commission, the European Council finally came up with a candidate from the centre-right, José Manuel Durao Barroso. Portugal's ex-prime minister now needs to be approved by the European Parliament. Barroso has been trawling the parliamentary group meetings in Brussels in search for votes. He seems to have found enough. His performance was assured, professional and linguistically competent. Barroso is a less passionate man than Romano Prodi, yet probably quite forceful. Intelligently, he describes himself as a 'bridging candidate' between the pays fondateurs and new member states, between rich and poor. He is strong on economic reform and on the constitution. As a Portuguese, he is perforce an Atlanticist, but he seems anxious to discard his reputation as being pro-Bush and Blair. Most MEPs who met him accept that he deserves time to complete the transformation of his mindset from European Council to European Commission. Unlike certain heads of government, MEPs are genuinely committed to the concept of a strong, autonomous Commission. Their consent should not be taken for granted: a weak candidate for Commission President would certainly be rejected by the Parliament.

Next week, back in Brussels, the Parliament's newly formed committees will make their preparations for the grilling of the ordinary members of the Commission whose nominations are starting to emerge. The first test of Barroso's independence will be his use of the discretion he has by right to pick and choose portfolios for his whole team. Agriculture, economic policy, trade and competition are the key ones to watch. Any lack of ability among Commissioners is bound to be exposed by what promises to be a vigorous and accomplished Parliament.

Andrew Duff MEP is a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.