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No, the European Parliament can only dismiss the Commission as a whole. Which is, of course, a rather big step. The Green Party has already anounced that unless Buttiglione is sacked, they will completly reject the Commission next week. I think they'll be backed by the Socialists. The Liberals also have some sympathy for the position of the Lefties, but I expect them to steer towards a compromise. Although they have anounced that they don't think Buttiglione will be able to function normally after this mess. On the other hand, the Conservatives still back him up, and they have 268 seats (out of the total of 732) so their voice carries quite a bit of weight. I don't envy Barroso on this. Keeping Buttiglione on will hurt the image of the European Union as a modern and secular institution. Plus, the Parliament might dismiss the intire Commission. On the other hand, Italy and many of the Conservatives will not be happy if he is removed. Which will also be bad PR for the EU. I think he'll steer towards taking certain parts of his portfolio, and delegating it to other Commissioners.
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