(Updated) Italian EU Commissioner under fire from Parliament chief

[Dreamer128]

08.10.2004 - 09:55 CET | By Honor Mahony EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The incoming Italian Commissioner has been strongly criticised by Josep Borrell, the European Parliament chief, for his conservative views on homosexuality and the role of women in society.

"It does not seem to me that in this day and age, we can have people in charge of justice - especially of justice - who think that", said Mr Borrell to French Europe 1 Radio of Rocco Buttiglione.

"In Spain, personally, I would not want to have a justice minister with those views", said said Mr Borrell.

His words came after the Italian on Tuesday (5 October) told MEPs that homosexuality is a sin and that marriage is so that women can have children.

Some MEPs were also outraged by the fact that he appeared to be prepared to let his moral views influence his policy.

"I am ready to seek dialogue, which is normal in a democracy, but if there is a proposal that is contrary to my moral principles, I would oppose it", said the Italian.

Legally, MEPs can only reject the whole team of Commissioners and not individual commissioners.

However, they could ask the incoming Commission president, José Manuel Durao Barroso, to request that Mr Buttiglione withdraw his candidacy.

Who is who?
But, this is all wrapped up in different family politics in the European Parliament and there has been some muttering among groups about why certain Commissioners have been approved and others not.

The European People's Party, to whom Mr Buttiglione belongs, has so far expressed satisfaction with his performance.

"He is an excellent candidate", said a spokesperson "it is just some have chosen to attack him for his religious views".

The Greens and the Socialists, however, are outraged by the Italian's views.

Meanwhile, EPP insiders wonder why the Socialists have given the nod of approval to László Kovács, the new energy commissioner and a Socialist, who was widely seen by conservative and Green MEPs as having given a very poor performance.

The Greens said his hearing was an "offence to the parliament".

"We thought the enquiry was rather heavily focussed on technical issues" countered a Socialist spokesperson referring to Mr Kovacs' hearing.

And the Danish Commissioner, who is Liberal, was given the thumbs up by the Liberal group in the parliament, but slammed by the Greens and the Socialists.

The Socialists said Mariann Fischer-Boel's hearing was "deeply discouraging".

The Commissioners' hearings, which finish on Monday (11 October) will be discussed by the different political groups next week.

Asking for a re-shuffle of the portfolios may be one way of diffusing the strong feeling about Mr Buttiglione, among others, but all groups have so far suggested that it is too early for such a decision to be made.

Mr Barroso will meet with the leaders of the political groups the following week to discuss his team - however that is just days before the parliament as a whole is to vote on the 25-person college.

[ 10-23-2004, 07:13 AM: Message edited by: Dreamer128 ]

[shamrock_uk]

Oh, I thought he had been turned down for the job! Presumably Berlusconi had a fit and pushed him through?

Personally I can understand the concerns. I believe his views may be an obstacle to some big piece of legislation that needs to be passed in the near future, I forget what exactly though.

You want somebody as unbiased as possible when in a judicial role and (whilst it would be fine if everybody is of the same culture - why the Italians can't see the problem) therefore someone who holds strong religious convictions at odds with many of the people he would preside over clearly isn't a good candidate. Religious convictions are impossible to separate completely from judgements. On a personal level though, I agree with a lot of what he does.

[Dreamer128]

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.

Not that Im aware of the ins and outs of this whole issue...but it seems to me, that the man should be allowed to have his views just as those who disapprove of those views have theirs.....is there no provision for diversity on these issues? or must everyone conform to whatever one group decides is the right opinion? Or is this a case of, everyon ehas the right to an opinion ...as long as it is the right opinion?

[Spelca]

Well, he said he doesn't believe in discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and since he'd be the Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security, I think this view could be damaging...

[Dreamer128]

Well, the Commissioners are pushed forward by the various EU memberstates. In this case, Italy. It's up to the European Parliament, who represent the people of Europe, to decide if he gets a democratic mandate. And many people think his opinions aren't shared by the majority of the Europeans, the very people he is supposed to represent.

[johnny]

I've seen that man on TV, what a friggin moron, he must be born in the dark ages or something. But i'm sure he'll fit right in with the rest of the EU loons.

[Dreamer128]

Update:

Barroso plays poker with the European Parliament
21.10.2004 - 17:35 CET | By Honor Mahony

EUOBSERVER/BRUSSELS - Incoming Commission President José Manuel Durão Barroso has decided to keep his controversial new team of Commissioners exactly the way it is - increasing the risk of the whole team being voted down by MEPs next week.

Following a meeting with the leaders of the political groups in the European Parliament on Thursday, Mr Barroso asked, "is it reasonable to make a Commission fall because two or three Commissioners are not satisfactory"?

He told MEPs that he would keep Rocco Buttiglione - the Italian Commissioner under fire for his conservative views on gays and women - in the justice and home affairs portfolio.

Special committee

He said he would set up a team of Commissioners, which he would personally chair, to make sure there is no discrimination on the grounds of gender or sexual orientation in the Commission's policies.

This specialised team would include Mr Buttiglione himself, Vladimir Spidla (social affairs), Margot Wallstrom (communication), Louis Michel (Development) and Benita Ferreo-Waldner (external relations).

Mr Barroso's decision is supported by the largest group in the parliament - the centre-right EPP (268 MEPS) and the small nationalist UEN group (27 MEPs).

But together they account for 295 votes, well short of a majority in the 732-seat parliament.

Referring to a letter that Mr Buttiglione wrote apologising for his comments, leader of the EPP, Hans-Gert Poettering said "We know that human and political life is not perfect" adding that he would recommend his group to vote yes.

However, the Socialists (200 MEPs) have rejected the Barroso compromise "what he put to us this morning was much less than I had been led to expect" said Martin Schulz, leader of the Socialists.

"I think we're going to vote no ... and I think this Commission deserves a no", said Mr Schulz.

The Greens (42 MEPs) are similarly against. "The Greens are making a final appeal for Barroso to make a new proposal if he does not want his Commission to be completely weakened" said a group statement.

The remaining two groups, the leftist GUE (41) and the eurosceptic ID (37) are also expected to vote no.

Depending on the Liberals

Whether or not the new Commission sees the light of day at the parliament next Wednesday (27 October) will depend to a large extent on the third biggest political group - the liberals (88 MEPs).

Graham Watson said his group's "strong preference remains the replacement of the Commissioner designate for Justice and Home Affairs, either through reshuffle or resignation".

However, he stopped short of saying which way he would advise his group to vote - it is to decide on Monday.

What kind of vote

A lot will also depend on how many MEPs abstain in the vote - and not just on who votes yes or no.

Abstentions do not count and some parliament insiders believe that if several MEPs abstain, Mr Barroso and his team will win a slim majority.

If MEPs do vote the Commission down, the current Prodi Commission will have to continue in a caretaker position and Mr Barroso would have go back to the drawing board in terms of who gets which portfolio.

A coming of age for the European Parliament?

For some MEPs, this is a coming of age for the European Parliament as it pits it directly against the member states.

Mr Barroso, say sources, was hampered by member states' reluctance to give more power to MEPs.

According to Andrew Duff, a liberal MEP, the current situation is one of those "historical moments".

"I would like to see some prime ministers say 'look it's time to come home'", said Mr Duff referring to Mr Buttiglione.

Under EU law, MEPs can only vote down the whole Commission but not individual commissioners.

However, if Mr Barroso were to swap Mr Buttiglione's portfolio it would be as a direct result of a European Parliament's committee decision to vote against the Italian.

This would open the door to the increased power that the Brussels assembly is looking for.

[ 10-23-2004, 07:17 AM: Message edited by: Dreamer128 ]