Barroso under pressure over top posts

By Martin Banks

Date: 29/07/04

THE NEW President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso is under pressure to decide the distribution of his administration's top jobs among the candidates nominated as commissioners.

His decisions will set the tone for his relations with member states, following a period of intense lobbying.

Paris, London and Berlin have led the contest to get their nominees the top jobs, which include the internal market, trade and competition portfolios.

With almost all the names of Barroso's 24 colleagues confirmed, attention has switched to which commissioner will be assigned what portfolio.

The internal market post, currently held by Dutchman Frits Bolkestein, is probably the most sought after among the economic portfolios, which also include trade, competition and monetary affairs. The big spending departments of agriculture and regional affairs are also regarded as important prizes. The influential portfolios of environment, enterprise, transport, and justice and home affairs are in a tier below.

UK nominee Peter Mandelson is among those wanting the internal market brief. Berlin too has its eyes on the same prize. The fact that the head of the internal market department, Alex Schaub, is a German might not help Günter Verheugen win the portfolio that Gerhard Schröder, the chancellor, wants for him.

Similarly Mandelson would probably be ruled out of the competition job while a Briton, Philip Lowe, is director-general of competition. Paris is pressing for Jacques Barrot to be given an economic post, though giving France either the competition or the monetary affairs portfolios might be an incendiary move.

Barroso will announce his team and the allocation of portfolios by 20 August. The new commissioners are to appear before confirmation hearings in the European Parliament beginning in the last week of September. Parliament will vote on the entire College of commissioners in the last week of October.

The decision by Silvio Berlusconi to replace Mario Monti with his European Affairs Minister Rocco Buttiglione means that only three of Prodi's original 1999 team will continue into the Barroso administration: Verheugen, Margot Wallström of Sweden and Viviane Reding from Luxembourg.

Alfred Pijpers, from the Dutch-based Clingendael Institute, said that one striking aspect of Barroso's new team is its lack of European Commission experience.

"It will require a lot of management capacity to build unity and a strong profile for this new team," Pijpers said.

On the other hand there is formidable ministerial experience. The team boasts three ex-prime ministers in Barroso, Vladimir Spidla of the Czech Republic and Estonian Siim Kallas. There are eight ex-foreign or finance ministers, including Austrian Benita Ferrero-Waldner and Louis Michel of Belgium.

The gender balance is poorer than Barroso's ambition of "at least eight women". Wallström and Reding will be two of only at most seven women in the Commission. The only one of the six big states sending a woman is Poland. Their nominee Danuta Hübner seems likely to receive a prominent portfolio.

The allocation of portfolios will also reveal Barroso's intentions for the reorganization of the Commission. The choice of budget commissioner will be important and Barroso has floated the possibility of a commissioner for auditing.

With Barroso believed to favour restructuring the directorates-general, Stanley Crossick, of the European Policy Centre, says that the relationship between the EU-inexperienced commissioners and their directors-general will be crucial.

"There should be a constructive tension between the political direction of the commissioners and the technical director of the DGs," he said.

The new President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso is under pressure to decide the distribution of his administration's top jobs among the candidates nominated as Commissioners.