The Hindu : International : `Dump E.U. Commissioner-designate'

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Wednesday, Oct 13, 2004

International

International

`Dump E.U. Commissioner-designate'

By David Gow

BRUSSELS, OCT. 12. The incoming European Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso, was under strong pressure on Monday night to dump Rocco Buttiglione, a professed opponent of women's and gay rights, as the next Commissioner for Justice and Security, after the European Parliament's civil liberties committee rejected his appointment.

It is the first time Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have rejected a designated Commissioner.

Although they can unseat only the whole Commission, not a single member, their opposition to Mr Buttiglione could at the very least force Mr Barroso to hand key parts of the justice portfolio to a colleague.

Challenge to authority

So far, Mr Barroso has resolutely backed the Italian Roman Catholic, who is a close friend of the Pope, saying that his personal moral views will not affect his political decisions in the secular E.U., and Mr Buttiglione has been chosen as one of his Vice-Presidents.

But as the leaders of the parliamentary political parties argue about at least four other new Commissioners, including Neelie Kroes, the controversial competition chief with a string of former company directorships, Mr Barroso is faced with a serious challenge to his authority when he meets them on October 21.

Mr Barroso succeeds Romano Prodi on November 1, and MEPs have the power to vote out his entire team when it meets six days later. That is unlikely, but sources said Mr Barroso would be unable to ignore the clear distaste of MEPs for one of his senior team members.

The Socialist group urged him to ``reflect on the deep unease'' in all the parties about some of the proposed new Commissioners. After the committee voted narrowly to reject Mr Buttiglione yesterday the biggest group, the conservative European People's Party (EPP), joined in a majority vote to turn him down for another portfolio and as Vice-President.

Michael Cashman, the gay British Labour MEP who is on the committee, said: ``The game is almost up for Buttiglione ... Most MEPs don't want this man to be put in charge of defending human rights, civil liberties and the E.U.'s anti-discrimination laws.''

Charge of bias

Last week Mr Buttiglione said: ``I may think that homosexuality is a sin, but this has no effect on politics unless I say that homosexuality is a crime.'' But Mr Cashman said Mr Buttiglione, a former Europe minister in Silvio Berlusconi's Italian Cabinet, had put forward an amendment to delete non-discrimination on sexual grounds during the drawing up of the E.U.'s charter of fundamental rights. ``We should not judge him by what he says but what he did and does.''— © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

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