Brussels, 10/11/2005 (Agence Europe) - The recently announced reshuffle of European Commission Director Generals has not found favour among some French MEPs, like Jean-Louis Bourlanges and Gilles Savary (see EUROPE 9065). In a press release, Savary (PES) says it consolidates Irish and German people in key positions, and reflects the French being entrenched behind an agriculture Maginot Line. He protested against the rude sidelining of Francois Lamoureux, Director General for Transport and Energy, who formerly worked with Delors in the golden age, a highly respected official who knows how to shake things up to make progress, like on the Galileo project, sharing responsibility for Galileo's voluntarism and creation. Bourlanges of the ALDE adds that Lamoureux is not being got rid of because of his faults, but because of his qualities. He is simply too good at his job, too imaginative, too committed and too hard working to not upset the lazy free-market thinking that rules the roost at the current Commission, he said (adding that everyone was aware that Jose Manuel Barroso's refusal to make Lamoureux Director General of Research went against the views of the two European Commissioners concerned). President Barroso's policy boils down to eradicating the Delors heritage, a heritage that affirms a political Europe balancing free trade and social justice and independence with regard to Member States, added Bourlanges, describing a witch-hunt to remove French people from high-ranking posts, pursued right under the relaxed eyes of the Chirac government. Bourlanges also mentions Francoise Le Bail being removed from her very prominent position as spokesperson, and the appointment of Jean-Luc Demarty as Director General for Agriculture, noting that flying in the face of sense, Paris believes farming should be its priority, and this is a sham because everyone knows full well that it is now Peter Mandelson's department that decides on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy. More generally, Bourlanges says various Vice-Presidents were not consulted or even informed about the appointment (although it merited discussion) of Catherine Day as Secretary General. He added that the European Commission used to be an impartial, innovative and respected institution, but with such decisions it is becoming no better than a research office at the service of countries that refuse to listen to it.