Gargani nomination sparks protests

Date: 17/01/02

By Martin Banks

A BITTER row has flared up over the nomination of a member of the Forza Italia party to chair a key committee in the European Parliament.

The European People's Party (EPP) has nominated Italian deputy Giuseppe Gargani to be chairman of the legal affairs and internal market committee. But the nomination is opposed by the Socialists and Greens, who say the appointment would be 'inappropriate' in light of recent developments. One Socialist group (PES) insider said: 'It will be total war if this goes through.'

They are concerned about Forza Italia's eurosceptic approach, highlighted in recent statements by its leader, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and his attempts to block the appointment of an Italian magistrate to a key post in the anti-fraud office OLAF.

Agreement on which parties will chair the parliament's 17 committees was reached by political group leaders in Strasbourg on Monday. The EPP will chair eight committees - budgetary control; foreign affairs, human rights, common security and defence policy; agriculture and rural development; citizens' freedoms and rights, justice and home affairs; legal affairs and internal market; environment, public health and consumer policy; fisheries; and petitions. The Socialists take six - constitutional affairs; industry, external trade, research and energy; budgets; economic and monetary affairs; culture, youth, education, the media and sport; women's rights and equal opportunities.

The European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party group will chair the committee on regional policy, transport and tourism; the Greens/European Free Alliance head employment and social affairs while the United Left/Nordic Green Left (GUE) chair the committee on development and cooperation.

The decision on committees' leaders will be left to their members when they meet in Brussels next Monday and Tuesday (21-22 January). Gargani, a lawyer and former official in the justice ministry in Rome, is seen by the EPP as an 'ideal' candidate for the legal affairs post. But opponents say he may be tarred by corruption cases involving Berlusconi and other senior Forza Italia figures.

On Saturday, Italian prosecutors staged a protest, accusing the government of protecting Berlusconi. One Green, who asked not to named, said: 'The appointment of a Forza Italia member to legal affairs...is especially unacceptable given the way the party has been meddling in the justice system in Italy.'

Spanish Conservative Iñigo Méndez de Vigo and German Socialist Klaus Hansch have been chosen to represent the Parliament on the future of Europe Convention praesidium chaired by former French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.

The nomination of Giuseppe Gargani, a member of the Forza Italia party, to chair the legal affairs and internal market committee has sparked controversy within the European Parliament with the Socialists and Greens opposing it in the light of recent developments.