Euro-Parliament approves all vetted Commission nominees

(STRASBOURG) - Euro MPs voiced approval Thursday for 25 of the 26 would-be members of EU Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso's new team, with Bulgaria's replacement choice yet to be vetted, a spokesman said.

The European parliament is scheduled to give its official green light for the 'Barroso II' commission on February 9, after Sofia's second-choice candidate for its humanitarian aid portfolio has been quizzed.

However the approval in principle of the 25 plus the impressive CV of the new Bulgarian pick, World Bank vice-president Kristalina Georgieva, make it extremely likely that the commission team will be up and running next month.

Barroso met Georgieva in Brussels Thursday and enthused that she would be an "excellent commissioner" given her "extensive international experience and grasp of the issues".

Bulgaria's first choice, Rumiana Jeleva, was this week forced to withdraw from the Brussels post and resign as Bulgaria's foreign minister after allegations of incompetence and financial wrongdoing arose during her grilling at the EU parliament last week.

The parliament cannot veto an individual commissioner-designate but can block the team as a whole.

European parliament president Jerzy Buzek on Thursday received the last of the 25 letters from the parliamentary committees which interviewed the would-be members of the EU's executive arm.

A spokesman for Buzek said all the committees gave a favourable opinion, except for that vetting Jeleva who failed the audition quite badly.

Her failure has delayed the entry into force of Barroso's cabinet for his second five-year term as commission head.

It is the second postponement for the commission which was unable to take up its functions in November due to delays in getting the EU's reforming Lisbon Treaty ratified.

The parliament will now deliver its definitive opinion on all 26 policy commissioners on February 9.

"We are very confident and optimistic that the new commission can be in place according to the timetable set out by the European parliament," a commission spokesman said.

The parliamentary green light is good news for Barroso, particularly after rumblings from the parliament's centre-right European People's Party, of which Jeleva is a senior figure, of a tit-for-tat attack on a Socialist commissioner.

The news was also very welcome to the likes of Olli Rehn, Finland's choice for the monetary affairs brief, and Neelie Kroes, the Dutch pick for new technologies, who did not overly impress the MEPs during the 10 days of hearings.

British peer Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign affairs supremo, received unenthusiastic support after giving vague replies on major global issues, a source said.

The commission will comprise 27 members, one from each EU nation. The figure includes Portuguese Barroso who was re-selected for the job last year.

It is deja vu for Barroso. 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.