Barroso is man of the year

21 Dec 2009

Kevin Leydon

As year ends!

2009 was an exciting year for José Manuel Barroso. It began with the Commission’s Climate package, duly amended, being adopted in legislative format in April. The difficult political negotiations were concluded just before Christmas and the way was clear for the European Union to table ambitious targets for Greenhouse gas emission reductions at the Climate Change Copenhagen Conference in December.

He had a bad summer. His early supporter, President Sarkozy, according to press rumours, blew hot and cold on his nomination. The Socialists, Greens and Liberals opposed his election in July and Parliament was only prevailed upon to take the vote in September. The strong vote in the Irish referendum gave the political impetus for the remaining Member States to ratify the Lisbon treaty. His nomination of Commissioners’ designate and the speedy allocation of portfolios gave a sense of direction and purpose. His tabling of the consultation document “EU 2020”set out his political objective of a social market economy with strong central guidance, leaving open the idea of a “Tobin Tax”.

The nomination of Herman Van Rompuy and Catherine Ashton as “Chairman” of the European Council and High Representative respectively ensured that he will not be over shadowed by these Lisbon Treaty appointments. Had Copenhagen concluded as the EU sought 2009 would indeed have been a successful year. With the marginalising of the EU and its Member States by the United States and China at the geopolitical level in the concluding hours of the conference and the rejection of the Union’s Climate Change approach the three Presidents, Barroso, Buzek and Van Rompuy will need to energise their respective Institutions in responding to this new opening chapter in global politics. President Barroso will require all his political skill to achieve his immediate ambitions. The following are some of the high lights of his year.

Barroso as prime mover: the European Union agrees its policy on climate change.

One year ago the European Council arbitrated a compromise on the climate energy package between the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament. This enabled the European Union to go to the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference earlier this month with a substantial offer to reduce green house emissions by at least 20% by 2020. The origins of this deal go back a number of years and owe much to Barroso’s determination to put the Commission at the center of the political debate. He convinced the German Chancellor that an ambitious climate energy policy would facilitate a solution to the problem of the stalled progress on reforming the Union following the rejection of the Constitutional Treaty by French and Dutch voters in 2005. The European Council adopted his strategy at their spring meeting of 2007. President Barroso presented to the Parliament in January 2008 six proposals for a comprehensive Climate Energy policy which would be the basis for the search for agreement at the Copenhagen Conference. Of course this was not a one man show. Thee institutions were deeply engaged across a range of technically complex and politically sensitive proposals. He was however the prime mover in the process, ensuring momentum as Presidencies of Council rotated on a six monthly basis.

The Commission and Parliament in transition: Barroso as consummate politician.

The year 2009 was a transitional year for both the Commission and the Parliament as their respective five year mandates ended. The Parliamentary elections were held in early June and the President and senior officers took office mid July. The Commission’s mandate was scheduled to end on 31st.October but pending the final ratification of the Lisbon Treaty and its entry into force on the 1st.December its caretaker mandate has been extended into 2010 with the new Commission to be sworn in early February if all goes well at the parliamentary hearings of Commissioners’ designate mid January and the plenary vote on the Commission end January. However there was political support for Mr. Barroso to be confirmed as Commission President under the Nice Treaty rules. This was controversial and the vote was delayed until September. Some argued that his appointment be delayed until the Lisbon rules entered into force. The voting requirements were more stringent requiring a majority of all MEPs supporting the candidate as against a simple majority of those voting. As it turned out the plenary vote exceeded the Lisbon requirements. However this did not satisfy some of his critics.

In the run up to his election he was strongly opposed by the Green Party and particularly Daniel Cohn-Bendit who have been leading a “Stop Barroso” campaign. The Party believed the President was beholden to industry when it came to tackling climate change or any other environmental issue, that he favours big business over social justice and that the deregulatory approach which he advocates led to the current economic crisis. Interviewed on Euro news Mr. Cohn-Bendit said “Mr. Barroso was incapable of leading an independent Commission which held its own against the Council, and that’s the problem”.

If the Greens do not like him Barroso also has his detractors on the left. Both Martin Schultz, parliamentary leader of the Socialists and fellow socialist MEP Pervenche Berès, Rapporteur of the Financial Crisis Committee were vocal in their opposition.

However the Socialists were split on the matter, with group leader Martin Schultz declaring that he is personally against Barroso. His particular concerns are over the handling of the economy, and he wants "concrete proposals" from Barroso on market regulation. His opponents also pointed to a poor record on the environment, despite claims by Barroso that it will be a top priority in his next term. Pervenche Berès widened the attack in a recent interview “Now you have a Commission where we only have one president in place and he’s able to launch, on his own, a paper that will outline the strategy for the whole EU for the ten next years, the ‘EU 2020 strategy’.

 

Despite this strong criticism of Barroso the left did not propose their own candidate and he was elected by secret ballot with 382 MEPs in favour, 13 more than needed to attain the majority required under the Lisbon Treaty, 219 against and 117 abstentions. A total of 718 out of 736 MEPs took part in the vote. In achieving this unexpected result he had demonstrated that he was a consummate politician, ready to confront his opponents in open debate when he met them in their political groupings. 

Barroso picks his team.

On the 27th.November the President announced his team of Commissioners’ designated together with their portfolios. Each Commissioner designate will be interviewed by the corresponding parliamentary committee during the week of the 11th and 18th January next. The vote on the appointment of the Commission is scheduled for the plenary on the 26th. Of the 27 nominees, 13,including Barroso, come from the center right, with eight liberals and six socialists, including new EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton from Britain, whose job description also makes her a commission vice-president. The nominated team includes nine women, one more than the outgoing commission. Twelve of the old team has been named in the new line-up. While there is a hierarchy of importance in the portfolios there are no obvious “fillers” and the general sentiment is that it is a balanced allocation of portfolios.

Bye and large the initial reaction in the press and by commentators was positive. Most criticism came from within the Parliament. What outside controversy did occur resulted from remarks by the French President “Given the financial crisis it is very reassuring that French ideas of regulation are “triumphing” in Europe. France’s president was referring to the distribution of portfolios in the new European Commission. After intense lobbying, the French commissioner, Michel Barnier, got the single market, including financial services. Never mind Agincourt and Waterloo the Anglo French “hundred year’s war” continues with the battle of Rond Point Schuman. All of this was in good time to celebrate the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty!

Barroso sets out his economic priorities.

In mid December President Barroso set out his vision for where the European Union should be in 2020. He believes that “the exit from the current crisis should be the point of entry into a new sustainable social market economy, a smarter, greener economy where prosperity will result from innovation and from using resources better and where knowledge will be the key input”. To achieve this outcome he will propose a common agenda: the EU 2020 strategy. The consultation will end on the 15tyh. January but Barroso was reassuring to parliamentarians that Parliament would have adequate time to make its representations: “Parliament would not just be informed but would be fully involved in developing the strategy. The scheduling of the European Council's final decision in June would allow Parliament to participate fully”.

During question time in the plenary session Barroso said that he was in favour of more involvement by the member states and added that he was encouraged by the exchange of views the European leaders held on the new strategy at the recent European Council: “I hope the discussions in the coming months as well as the special summit that will be organised in February will focus on reinforcing the role of the member states in the EU’s 2020 strategy,” he said. It is clear from a number of comments he has made that he envisages a social market economy with strong central guidance. Asked about the chances of introducing a multilateral "Tobin tax" Mr. Barroso took the view that the EU should support proposals for a global tax on financial transactions. "If we want to meet our obligations regarding the fight against climate change, it cannot be only with the money from our budgets".

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