Brussels, 20/06/2008 (Agence Europe) - The Commission is “an independent institution” and Commissioner Mandelson shows proof of “enormous competence”. This was José Manuel Barroso's immediate response, on Friday 20 June after the European Council, to the criticism voiced by Silvio Berlusconi and Nicolas Sarkozy. The Italian prime minister and the French president, each separately but with the same insistence, had criticised the action of European commissioners. Speaking to the press on Friday 20 June, the president of the Italian Council hoped there would be “changes in the way commissioners behave” as, he said, they make things difficult for governments with their declarations. “The Commission is an independent institution; we are not a secretariat of member states”, Mr Barroso replied, adding that “the EC does its work objectively seeking to serve the European general interest”, while remaining open to criticism but not accepting “any form of pressure”. The day before, Mr Sarkozy had said the European trade commissioner, Peter Mandelson, was partly responsible for the Irish no-vote. “The debate on the referendum was on abortion, euthanasia, a European commissioner or not, taxation, and the WTO - we cannot put that on Mr Barroso”, the French president had said, adding: “Choose another, Mandelson for example”. The trade commissioner has an “extremely difficult” load to bear, Mr Barroso said, saying: “He negotiates on behalf of 27 member states that do not all have the same priorities”. He praised the competence and the “very strong personal commitment” of Mr Mandelson, who “does a magnificent job”. He went on to hope that the latter would enjoy all the “support necessary to reach the objective unanimously reaffirmed today by the heads of State” for a positive outcome to the Doha Round. (A.B./transl.jl)