Michel told to tread carefully in election

The European Parliament’s legal service has said there is nothing to stop Development Commissioner Louis Michel from participating in next month’s Belgian elections.

But in a confidential opinion, Parliament’s legal service also warns that Michel could lose his job if during the campaign he breaches the "principles which govern the activities of the commissioners", namely to maintain his independence and not violate the collegial character of the group of commissioners.

The opinion will bolster Michel’s appearance before the development committee today (3 May) when he will argue that his leave of absence, starting on 11 May and ending on 10 June, does not go against the commissioners’ code of conduct.

He is expected to tell MEPs that practical steps have been taken to ensure that Olli Rehn, the enlargement commissioner, who will take over Michel’s duties while he is away, is briefed on his portfolio.

But Maria Martens, a Dutch MEP and co-ordinator of the centre-right MEPs in the development committee, maintains that the leave of absence goes against the "spirit" of what the EU treaty says is the role of a commissioner. "The high level specialists in the legal services have said legally it is not sufficient to make him leave but at least in my eyes it is contradictory to the spirit of the treaty," she said.

She said she would raise in the committee the issue of changing the code of conduct to ensure commissioners in future would not be allowed to take leave to participate in elections. "He could go and speak to a [political] party during an election but should not be allowed to join an electoral list. He should not be interfering," she said.

MEPs are also likely to insist that the timing of the leave is inappropriate, in particular given the stage of talks on the Economic Partnership Agreements between the Commission and African, Caribbean and Pacific states (see below).

"We need a commissioner to be political, it’s no good having technocrats for commissioners, but it’s about priorities for the development work," said Margrietus van den Berg, a Dutch Socialist MEP and a vice-chairman of the development committee.

The legal opinion, drafted at the request of the development committee, states that "neither the participation of members of the Commission in national elections nor the mere statement that they belong to a political party constitute, as such, a credible risk to their independence".

It adds that "in legal terms, nothing prevents a commissioner, under the responsibility of the president of the Commission, to be granted temporary leave with a view to participating in national elections in his own country".

But the opinion warns that both Michel and the President of the Commission José Manuel Barroso "remain responsible for ensuring that the conduct of the commissioner during the said campaign does not, in any way, impinge upon those principles during or after the campaign".

The Parliament’s legal service adds that articles in the EC treaty which provide for the removal of a commissioner "could apply if it appears, as a matter of fact, that the above principles were not respected during the electoral campaign". According to the treaty, only the European Court of Justice can sack an individual commissioner for violation of his treaty obligations. But Barroso asked his commissioners at the beginning of their mandate to promise that they would resign, should he ask them to do so.

A spokesman for Michel said that he was "not surprised" by the opinion as the commissioner had already been "cautious enough to consult" the EU treaties on the issue before seeking the leave of absence.

The European Parliament’s legal service has said there is nothing to stop Development Commissioner Louis Michel from participating in next month’s Belgian elections.