Brussels, 16/02/2005 (Agence Europe) - Nothing in the code of conduct signed by members of the European Commission prevents Commissioners taking part in the political activities of their countries insofar as this does not limit their “availability” to perform their tasks at the Commission. José Manuel Barroso therefore had the right to speak “in a personal capacity, not as president of the Commission” in a 36 second television slot (shown on Tuesday evening) during he election campaign in Portugal. Commission spokesperson Françoise Le Bail was keen to point this out to the press on Wednesday. Ms Le Bail also thought that it was quite normal that Mr Barroso gave support in this emission (in a very “moderate way”) to the party to which he has belonged for a long time. She noted that European Commissioners were still politicians and in the past some of them had participated far more actively in election campaigns. Le Bail spelt out that citizens and Commissioners alike had the right to express themselves.
EP Socialist group president, Martin Schulz, however said that Mr Barroso had “compromised his independence” and had demonstrated that he “preferred the centre-right instead of acting for Europe as a whole”. In a press release Schulz said that Mr Barroso's party had to have been “in a sorry situation”, if it needed to used the weight of Barroso's support in its campaign.