06/10/2004 (Agence Europe) - As was expected, the hearing of Commissioner-designate for Justice and Home Affairs Rocco Buttiglione of Italy provoked different reactions from the right and the left wing of the European Parliament (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.9). The former colleagues of the EPP/ED Group, in which the Italian European Affairs Minister held a seat when he was MEP, were generous in their praises of him. Rocco Buttiglione clearly demonstrated his competence by proving that the criticism from the left-wing were unfounded, it is stated in a press release by CDU member Hartmut Nassauer, who adds: "Unlike his predecessor Vitorino, Buttiglione is at any rate fully aware of the fears and concerns of Europeans on questions of asylum and immigration". It was quite a different note from the Socialist Group, where the Italian members express their malaise: Nicola Zingaretti, mainly because Mr Buttiglione "has not yet resigned" from his post of minister; Michele Santore, mainly for Mr Buttiglione's "embarrassing" remarks about homosexuality and the need to "protect a woman's reproductive function". Forza Italia member Mario Mauro, on the contrary, said: "Professor Buttiglione (…) has proven his great ability to take on an important role within the Commission" and "his concept of man and civil cohabitation will be a great help in giving a meaning to this European Union, which currently seems to have lost its way".