Brussels, 18/04/2008 (Agence Europe) - The two main political groups at the European Parliament are insisting that the next European commissioner responsible for justice and home affairs (JHA) should be ready to closely cooperate with MEPs. This is a necessity in accordance with the provisions of the Lisbon Treaty, which provides for co-decision on such matters, the representatives of the EPP-ED and PES Groups point out.
Klaus-Heiner Lehne, spokesman for the EPP-ED Group for legal affairs, states that Antonio Tajani is the man for the post as far as competence goes. In a press release of 17 April, Mr Lehne enthusiastically considers the arrival of the co-founder of Forza Italia, and the former president of the European People's Party, within the College of Commissioners to fill the place left by Franco Frattini (EUROPE 9643). It will of course be up to the incoming Council president, Silvio Berlusconi, to appoint the next Italian commissioner, the German Christian Democrat representative explains. He says: “Antonio Tajani has a proven track-record. He has strong managerial skills in European legal affairs and can foster the role of Europe in the world. Those are the two key factors a commissioner for justice and home affairs has to bring along”.
Although he did not dwell on Mr Tajani's specific profile, the president of the Socialist Group in Parliament stressed the need for consensus. Commissioner Frattini “discharged his duties well and in full cooperation with the European Parliament”, Martin Schulz comments in a press release published on Friday 18 April. The “nomination is a sensitive one” as, given the changes made by the new treaty, the Italian candidate must be “a person who can work for consensus and who takes a bipartisan approach”. He should also have “the high profile and competence needed for success in the job”, Mr Schulz continued, supporting the “calls for dialogue issued by Walter Veltroni”. He went on to recall the importance that the PES attaches to the public hearing of the commissioner-designate before the members of the legal affairs and civil liberties committees at the EP. (A.B.)