Brussels, 10/09/2009 (Agence Europe) - The conference of presidents of the political groups at the European Parliament decided on Thursday to include José Manuel Barroso's renewal at the helm of the European Commission on the agenda of the Wednesday 16 September session, in Strasbourg. During this meeting the Socialists (S&D), Greens, European Left (GUE/NGL) and the EFD (Europe of Freedom and Democracy) took a stance in favour of voting immediately after the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, whereas the EPP, the Liberals (ALDE) and the Conservatives (ECR -European Conservatives and Reformists) were in favour of including this point on the agenda. After the conference of presidents, Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Rebecca Harms announced that the Greens would, during the opening of Monday's plenary session (when the agenda should be approved), call for a roll-call vote on the question of knowing whether the point should be removed from the agenda or not.
On Thursday, the EP conference of presidents took another important decision. It rejected a request from the leader of the Liberal Group, Guy Verhofstadt, who suggested that, when voting on 16 September, the EP should adopt a resolution decreeing that, if the Lisbon Treaty enters into effect before the whole of the next European Commission has been formally approved and established, then the whole appointment procedure should be started all over again - including designation of the Commission president on which the EP should vote again - but according to the new rules under the Lisbon Treaty (which stipulates that the president of the Commission must have the support of an absolute majority of MEPs and not just simple majority, as is the case under the Nice Treaty). The draft resolution by Mr Verhofstadt was backed by Martin Schulz, who heads the Socialist Group, but did not have the support of the Greens who voted against, or that of the leader of the GUE/NGL, Lothar Bisky, who abstained (with the support of these two groups, inscription of the resolution would have been endorsed).
How can one explain the fact that the Greens, which initiated the “Stop Barroso” campaign, did not seize this opportunity to have a new vote on candidate Barroso once the Lisbon Treaty takes effect, all the more as it does not seem unrealistic to imagine that there could be serous difficulties in getting an absolute majority of MEPs to vote for Barroso? “Verhofstadt's proposal is a lie, and one must not lie to people. That is why we have voted against”, Mr Cohn-Bendit told journalists on Thursday. In his view, it is clear that, if Mr Barroso is elected next week on the basis of the Nice Treaty, it will be the whole Commission that should be constituted and approved on the basis of this same Nice Treaty. And there will therefore not be a second vote after entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty as this Commission will be in place for five years. “It is a legal obligation. There will be no other possibility. If one begins a Commission under one treaty, then it is necessary to end on the basis of the same treaty”, he said, affirming that this is the opinion of “all legal services” and especially that of the EP. The real and inescapable constraints that the Treaty of Lisbon still has to face (Irish referendum on 2 October, new proceedings before the Czech constitutional court, necessity for the Polish and Czech presidents to sign the ratification law, entry into force of the treaty only on first of month following submittal of last act of ratification, etc) are such that the new treaty could never take effect before 1 December (in the very best of scenarios), if not on 1 January 2010. By then, Mr Barroso will have long formed his college of commissioners and called for a vote of approval from the European Parliament, arguing that the Commission must be operational immediately (economic crisis, conference on climate in Copenhagen, etc.) and that it cannot wait for the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, Mr Cohn-Bendit points out. “There will therefore not be a second vote. If Barroso is approved, we shall have a new Commission by the end of November, early December, on the basis of the Nice Treaty”, he explained. In this case, however, the Council should decide which member states would no longer have a European commissioner (pursuant to the Nice Treaty). A possible solution would be to not have a commissioner from the country of origin of the new EU high representative for the CFSP, who will become vice-president of the Commission once the Lisbon Treaty takes effect. Mr Verhofstadt's proposal is an “intelligent trick” which, in reality, “is all cock-and-bull”, Mr Cohn-Bendit concluded. Rebecca Harms also criticises the “incredible about-turn” by Mr Verhofstadt and the Liberals who, after having long criticised Mr Barroso, “have now decided to support him for reasons I fail to grasp”.
The GUE also explained why it did not support Verhofstadt's proposal. “At any rate we shall not be voting for Mr Barroso, either under the Nice or the Lisbon Treaty. We are fundamentally against the policies that the Barroso Commission has conducted so far”, Mr Bisky said.
Martin Schulz stressed on Thursday that the Socialist Group will not support Mr Barroso. “There will not be a 'yes' vote from our side. We are not going to vote for him”, he predicted, while acknowledging that opinions between the national delegations within the S&D Group differ (for example, it is known that the French Socialists or German Social Democrats will vote against Mr Barroso while the Spanish or Portuguese Socialists and others could abstain altogether). “We'll see what the result is at the end”, Mr Schulz said. (H.B./transl.jl)