Barroso to start parliament charm offensive

Euobserver ^ | 1 July 2004 | Sharon Spiteri

[ScaniaBoy]

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The selection of Jos?anuel Dur?Barroso as Commission President has had mixed reviews among the parliament groups which will have to approve him for the post.

After his nomination by EU leaders last Tuesday, Mr Barroso still needs a majority of the 732 deputies in the European Parliament to back his candidature at a meeting in Strasbourg later this month.

Although the Portuguese can count on the support of the centre-right EPP group, with 279 seats, the next two largest groups, the Socialists (199 members) and the Liberals - likely to reach 80 MEPs, have not yet given their outright support.

Even though the centre-right UEN group which has around 30 deputies said that they would certainly back Mr Barroso, the EPP and UEN are not enough to obtain the majority of the votes needed, unless they form an alliance with Liberals or some other group.

Mr Barroso is expected to meet the different political groups in the European Parliament next week ahead of the vote on 22 July in the parliament to explain his plans and visions for the next five years.

These meetings could be crucial for Mr Barroso to gain the necessary trust of MEPs before they vote to approve his nomination by a secret ballot.

This method makes the outcome quite difficult to predict, particularly if some MEPs decide to vote against the line taken by their respective political groups.

If Mr Barroso fails to get enough votes from the European Parliament, the matter goes back to the Council, where EU member states would have to come up with a new name.

The outgoing leader of the socialists Enrique Baron Crespo has condemned Mr Barroso as "neither sufficiently European, nor sufficiently social".

Liberal leader Graham Watson said that his group was considering calling for a delay of at least one week in the vote to approve Mr Barroso, saying that the group needs "more time to get to know a candidate who is still relatively unknown in European Union circles".

The Greens (40 MEPs) have also expressed scepticism about the appointment of Mr Barroso "because his ideas on Europe are too much linked to the Americans".

The Parliament's United Left Group (39) also said that Jos?anuel Dur?Barroso combines all the "qualities" to justify a unanimous "no" from the group.

[Malesherbes]

Barroso who made the long march from a Maoist to a free market Atlanticist has his work cut out in persuading the European left to vote him in. He may have to do something symbolic like praising a Michael Moore movie.

It's possible that the European Union is incapable of finding anyone of any competence on whom they can agree.

[prolusion]

Barroso to start parliament charm offensive

charm offensive.

I need more coffee, me thinks.