Barroso Commission

Barroso was at first seen as the lowest common denominator by outside commentators, but his proposed team of Commissioners earned him some respect before triggering a crisis when the European Parliament objected to some of them, forcing a reshuffle. In 2007 the Commission gained two new members when Romania and Bulgaria joined the European Union.

Barroso's handling of his office was markedly more presidential than his predecessors. During his term the Commission passed major legislation including the REACH and 'Bolkestein' Directives. Under Barroso, the civil service in the Commission became more economically liberal.

History

Barroso was nominated as president and approved by Parliament in July 2004. However his proposed Commission met with opposition from the Parliament, notably concerning Rocco Buttiglione and his conservative comments which were seen as incompatible with his role as European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security. The opposition plunged the EU into a minor crisis before Barroso conceded to the Parliament and reshuffled his team, removing Buttiglione, and his Commission took office on 22 November 2004. The commission was joined in 2007 by two further Commissioners when Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU.

Presidential candidates

The Prodi Commission was due to end its mandate at the end of October 2004, so following the 2004 elections to the Sixth European Parliament, candidates for Commission President began to be considered. There was strong backing for Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt (EDLR) from Ireland, France and Germany who saw him as a "convinced European and also a fighter". However the federalist was opposed by Spain the United Kingdom, Italy and Poland due to his vocal opposition to both the Iraq War and the inclusion of God in the European Constitution. Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern (AEN) was also a popular candidate but did not wish to take up the job.

Due to the victory of the European People's Party in the previous election, EPP parties were keen to get one of their members into the post, including Luxembourgian Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker (EPP), who refused, and Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel (EPP), who was in a coalition with the far-right Freedom Party of Austria which discredited him as a candidate to some governments.

A number of Commissioners were also touted, notably Franz Fischler, Commissioner for Agriculture (Austria, EPP), António Vitorino, Commissioner for JHA (Portugal, PES), Chris Patten, Commissioner for External Relations (UK, ED), Michel Barnier, and Commissioner for Regional Policy (France, EPP).

Other candidates were High Representative Javier Solana (Spain, PES) and President of the Parliament Pat Cox (Ireland, ELDR) however both were light candidates. However Barroso emerged as a leading candidate despite his support for the Iraq War and being seen as the lowest common denominator following objections to other candidates. The Parliament approved Barroso as president on 22 July 2004 by 413 votes to 215 (44 abstentions) with most of his support coming from the EPP-ED group. He did however earn praise for his later choice of commissioners.

Commissioner hearings

Barroso rejected the idea of a "supercommissioner" and desired 1/3 of the commission to be women and that the most powerful portfolios should be handed to those most capable, not those from larger states. His sharing out of jobs between the larger and smaller states equally earned him some early praise. Candidates were proposed by national governments for each of the Commissioners and Parliament held hearings for them, to determine their suitability, between 27 September and 11 October of that year.

During the hearings, members found fault in a number of Commissioners. Committees questioned the suitability of Ingrida Udre (Taxation and Customs Union), László Kovács (Energy), Neelie Kroes (Competition) and Mariann Fischer-Boel (Agriculture). However the most controversial was Rocco Buttiglione as European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security due to his conservative comments (on women's position in marriage and that homosexuality was a sin) which, in the eyes of some MEPs, made him unsuitable for a job securing civil rights in the EU leading to the civil rights committee to be the first committee to vote down an incoming Commissioner.

The Party of European Socialists (PES) were the most vocal critics of Barroso and his proposed Commission, while the European People's Party (EPP) backed the commission with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) split. Barroso attempted to offer small concessions to Parliament but they were not accepted as the PES made clear they would vote down the commission as it stood, leaving the divided ALDE holding the balance of whether the Barroso Commission would be the first Commission in EU history to rejected by Parliament. The EPP demanded that if Buttiglione were to go, then a PES commissioner must also be sacrificed for balance.

Barroso eventually gave in and withdrew his proposed college of Commissioners and, following three weeks which left Prodi continuing as a caretaker, proposed a new line-up. There were three changes to help his dented authority and win the support of Parliament: Buttiglione had been withdrawn by Italy and replaced by foreign minister Franco Frattini, László Kovács was moved from Energy to Taxation and Ingrida Udre was withdrawn and replaced by Andris Piebalgs who took over the now vacant post of Energy.

However a further issue concerning Jacques Barrot was raised by Independence/Democracy co-leader Nigel Farage MEP. Barrot, a returning Commissioner nominated as a Vice-President with the Transport portfolio, had received a suspended prison sentence in 2000 in relation to a funding scandal involving his political party. He subsequently received a Presidential amnesty from then-French President Jacques Chirac and Barroso was unaware of the conviction until it was raised by Parliament. Despite this, Barroso stood by Barrot stating he was fit for office. Farage had also made allegations against vice-president Siim Kallas, stating he had a criminal record in fraud. However this proved false, based on an inaccurate newspaper article, and an apology was published.

Despite this, the commission was approved on 18 November 2004, 449 votes in favour, 149 against and 82 abstentions, after Barroso gained the support of all three major parties and they took office on 22 November, three weeks after they were due to.

2007 enlargement

Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU on 1 January 2007 with each being granted a single Commissioner, increasing the college of Commissioners to 27 members. Both new Commissioners were approved by the Parliament on 12 December 2006. Meglena Kuneva was proposed by Bulgaria and was assigned the Consumer Protection portfolio, previously part of the joint Health & Consumer Protection portfolio. She was welcomed by Parliament with the EPP and PES being impressed by her aims and attitude. Kuneva with 583 votes "in favour", 21 votes "against" and 28 votes "abstentions".

Romania originally proposed Senator Varujan Vosganian, however he quickly met with opposition from Socialists and the Commission itself due to his far right views and having no experience of the EU or profile outside Romania. That nomination was replaced by Leonard Orban who was given the portfolio of Multilingualism, previously part of Education, Training & Culture. This however was met a cool reception for being such a slim portfolio. PES Group leader Martin Schulz MEP suggested it should instead focus on ethnic minorities but this was rejected by Barroso. Orban was approved by Parliament with 595 votes in favour, 16 against and 29 abstentions.

End of term resignations

In March 2008, Commissioner Kyprianou left the Commission following presidential elections in Cyprus to become his home country's new foreign minister. He was replaced by Androula Vassiliou who was approved by Parliament on 9 April. Commissioners leaving early towards the end of their mandate is common, as they seek to secure their next job, but can undermine the commission as a whole.

Kyprianou was followed by Franco Frattini on 23 April 2008 following elections in Italy when he was recalled to serve as foreign minister of Italy. Frattini's responsibilities were handed to Barrot (who held them in addition to his existing transport duties) until a replacement for Frattini could be found. In light of Parliament's opposition in 2004 when Buttiglione was deemed inappropriate for the justice portfolio, when Antonio Tajani MEP (another right wing candidate) was put forward to replace Frattini, president Barroso handed him Barrot's transport portfolio, leaving Barrot to continue with the justice portfolio for continuity and to ensure Parliament would back Tajani in such as non-sensitive position as Transport (but one still of interest to Italy due to problems with Alitalia). Parliament approved Tajani on 18 June 2008 with a vote of 507 to 53 (64 abstentions). Peter Mandelson then left in October 2008 to return to national politics as Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, being replaced by Baroness Ashton. Following the 2009 election two commissioners stood down to accept seats in the European Parliament: Danuta Hübner (Poland) and Louis Michel (Belgium) who were replaced by Paweł Samecki (4 July) and Karel De Gucht (17 July) respectively. Dalia Grybauskaitė (Lithuania) was replaced by Algirdas Šemeta on 1 July 2009) after becoming President of Lithuania. Ján Figeľ (Slovakia) was replaced by Maroš Šefčovič on 1 October 2009 after being elected leader of the Christian Democratic Movement on 21 September 2009.

Second term – Barroso

In 2008, Barroso steadily won support from leaders for a second term as president, Nicolas Sarkozy and Silvio Berlusconi both declared their support for Barroso, though Barroso himself stated it is up to the political parties in Parliament. On 19 July 2008 Barroso stated for the first time that he was seeking a second term and was backed by the EPP for re-election. In the 2009 elections, the EPP maintained their position as largest party, though without an absolute majority even with the support of other parties to their right. Yet the second and third largest groups, the PES and ALDE, failed to put forward an alternative candidate to challenge Barroso even if they had won. Despite this, a loose red-green-yellow coalition (the PES/S&D and ALDE with The Greens–European Free Alliance) formed against Barroso in an attempt to gain concessions from him. They demanded Barroso set out clearly his policy guidelines for his next term and offer key posts in the commission to their group members. They also attempted to push the vote back beyond the ratification date for the Treaty of Lisbon to have more power over his appointment.

In a meeting with the political groups on 10 September 2009, Barroso argued his new policies to a packed room with an unusually lively debate as Barroso defended his record against the Greens, his most ardent opponents. Despite holding his own in the debate he did not win support from the Greens. however the PES/S&D and ALDE leaders softened their opposition, the latter approving of the idea of a Commissioner for Human Rights. Following the plenary debate on 15 September the EPP and anti-federalist European Conservatives and Reformists declared support, with conditional support from ALDE. The PES/S&D, Greens/EFA and eurosceptic Europe for Freedom and Democracy group all declared opposition, criticising ALDE for switching camps. However the groups struggled to enforce a party line as MEPs vote via a secret ballot. The vote took place on 16 September 2009. On 16 September 2009, Barroso was re-elected by Parliament by 382 to 219 (out of 718, with 117 abstentions).

Second term – College

Although Jacques Barrot wished to stay, French President Sarkozy favoured Michel Barnier and Vladimír Špidla was also interested but his party is out of government. Benita Ferrero-Waldner lacks support in Austria and was replaced Communications Commissioner Margot Wallström did not intended to return for another third term and has criticised her portfolio for not having any powers. She recommended that her successor be a "Citizen's Commissioner" with a legislative agenda, including control over Erasmus. To gain the liberal vote in Parliament Barroso pledged to create a Commissioner for Civil Liberties and a Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration (who will forge a common migration policy), splitting the current Justice, Freedom and Security portfolio.

The new portfolios, as well as splitting home affairs from civil liberties, merges enlargement with the neighbourhood policy, creates a post for climate change and scraps or merges weak dossiers such as communication (which was also open to charges of propaganda) and multilingualism. There are still some weak posts however, such as humanitarian aid and institutional relations.

There was some minor controversy over appointing a Frenchman to the Internal Market due to France's desire to regulate the City of London, however the civil service department for such regulation will not be headed by a Briton. There was also concern over a Romanian taking on agriculture, as Romania has had problems managing its EU farm subsidies. Although Barroso had wished for greater gender balance, only one extra woman was nominated to the new Commission. All the vice-presidents are returning Commissioners and their order of precedence is: Catherine Ashton (first vice-president), Viviane Reding, Joaquin Almunia, Siim Kallas, Neelie Kroes, Antonio Tajani and then Maroš Šefčovič.

Bulgaria's initial candidate, Rumiana Jeleva, was forced to step down due to opposition from MEPs, mainly the PES, who questioned her suitability and financial interests despite backing from the EPP (to which her national party belongs). Bulgaria rapidly submitted Kristalina Georgieva, but this forced the vote on the commission to be delayed weeks so Georgieva's hearings could be arranged. The only other commissioner-designate to lack support was returning commissioner Neelie Kroes, who was also seen to perform poorly in her hearing. However, she was invited back and secured more support, indicating she will get approval from Parliament.

Parliament approved the new line-up on 9 February 2010 with 488 votes in favour. 137, The Greens–European Free Alliance and European United Left–Nordic Green Left, voted against while 72 MEPs abstained; including the European Conservatives and Reformists who abstained on democracy grounds. The greens criticised the other parties for opposing Barroso's team and then voting in favour anyway, protesting that Barroso "assigned portfolios without respect to the prospective commissioners' competences. Worse still, he moved commissioners from posts where they were doing a good job. The new college risks being characterised by internal power struggles instead of teamwork due to the unclear division of responsibilities." while the conservatives desired a vote for them individually as "there were strong candidates who we would have endorsed, and weak candidates who we would have opposed."

However, in exchange for approving the commission, Parliament secured an agreement from Barroso ensuring Parliament's president may attend the Commission meetings and international negotiations. However Barroso resisted Parliament's calls for de facto legislative initiative for Parliament and for a veto power over special representatives.