Barroso II

Written by Abdrew Duff and published in Liberal Democrat News on Mon 22nd Nov 2004

For the last three weeks this column has focussed on the struggle between the European Parliament and the European Council concerning the appointment of the new Commission. I make no apologies for returning to the issue, particularly as it might reach its climax this week when MEPs vote on whether or not to accept the second team put forward by Commission President-elect Jose Manuel Barroso.

Parliament has already taken an important step forward in forcing the heads of government to reorganise the Commission. We have caused the resignation of one candidate (Buttiglione), the withdrawal of another (Udre) and a reshuffle for a third (Kovacs). The European Council is left in no doubt that it must not send low calibre people to Brussels; and it will be absurd for Eurosceptics to argue in future that the Commission is made up of unelected bureaucrats.

After three more hearings (Frattini, Piebalgs and Kovacs again), I hope it will be possible for the Parliament to approve the whole college on Thursday. In order to ensure a large majority, however, there must be strings attached.

Top priority is to make individual Commissioners responsible for their actions. The Treaty only gives the Parliament the 'nuclear option' of sacking the entire Commission. The Prodi Commission accepted that each member would resign if, following a substantial vote of no confidence by MEPs, the President so requested. There was no agreement in the constitutional Convention to go further than this.

But the crisis over the approval of the Barroso Commission has boosted the case for reform. I am proposing that we stipulate that if the Parliament expresses a loss of confidence in any individual Commissioner by a majority of two-thirds, the President will automatically require the resignation of that member of his college.

The change may help Mr Barroso manage a potential crisis. It also responds to the legitimate public demand for increased democratic accountability, and would make the government of the European Union a bit less presidential and a lot more parliamentary.

Andrew Duff MEP is spokesman on constitutional affairs for ALDE.