Political battle over new Commission team

(BRUSSELS) - EU commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso's proposed new team has come under some wounding fire during tough questioning at job interviews at the European parliament, which are set to end Tuesday.

While much of the MEPs' objections may come down to political point-scoring or profile-raising, there is a worrying precedent for Barroso as he begins a second five-year term at the helm of the European Union's executive arm.

In 2004, when his first team of policy commissioners was being vetted, the parliament forced the withdrawal of Italian candidate Rocco Buttiglione over his views on gay rights.

Now, as Barroso's new 26-member team are quizzed, "the politicising of the process has gone up another notch since then," one senior EU official observed.

While the euro MPs cannot veto individual commissioners they can oppose the whole team in a vote scheduled for January 26.

So far there have been mixed performances from the would-be-commissioners.

First EU foreign policy supremo Catherine Ashton failed to impress with her grasp of the broad external portfolio.

Austrian Greens deputy Ulrike Lunacek lamented that Ashton "has shown herself to be a true diplomat: rich on words, poor on specifics. Her hearing has revealed no clear sense of vision, no initiatives and no plans of her own."

However it is Bulgaria's aid and crisis commissioner-designate Rumiana Jeleva who is in the parliament's cross hairs.

The MEPs questioned the Bulgarian foreign minister on alleged discrepancies in her declaration of financial interests, arguing that her involvement in one particular company, Global Consult, was notable by its absence.

She has also had to fend off allegations that her husband has mafia links.

"The image of the EU is already bad enough as it is, so having someone whose name has been tainted by allegations of financial misconduct may become unsustainable," argued Marco Incerti, analyst with the Brussels-based Centre for European Policy Studies think-tank.

Jeleva, a conservative, also scored badly on her grasp of her brief.

Her candidature ruined a tacit non-aggression pact between the parliament's political forces.

The head of the Socialist MEPs, Martin Schulz wrote to Barroso "to inform him of the very serious doubts the group has regarding the Bulgarian candidate."

As battle lines were drawn, the conservative European People's Party vice-chairman Jozsef Szajer sniffed a "witch hunt" denouncing the "unfounded allegations" against her.

The centre-right MEPS began targeting Slovak commission candidate Maros Sefcovic over controversial comments on the Roma people, in a tit-for-tat response.

On Friday Barroso backed Jeleva, though not effusively.

Jeleva "has the necessary general competence, international experience and shows the necessary levels of European commitment," he said in a letter to the parliament.

The assembly has reserved its formal opinion on her until Monday.

Meanwhile Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov appeared to distance himself from his foreign minister's EU candidacy.

While insisting she was competent for the post he said he was not in a position to judge the allegations against her.

Some of the commissioners-designate -- like Spain's Joaquin Almunia (competition portfolio) and France's Michel Barnier (internal market) -- "made excellent presentations," said Socialist vice-chair Hannes Swoboda.

However there are other problem candidates. MEPs from both left and right were disappointed with Finnish would-be economic affairs commissioner Olli Rehn, a liberal, fearing a lack of vision.

The euro deputies have also postponed their decision till this week on Neelie Kroes, a heavyweight in the outgoing commission, after an unimpressive audition for the new technology portfolio.

Barroso must ask himself if he really has "a good team" said British Liberal MEP Andrew Duff.

Other MEPs will be content to answer the question themselves.

European Parliament Hearings of the 
Commissioners-designate