Sweetheart deals won’t help Barroso

Last week’s (8-9 March) summit on tackling climate change and energy policy was the latest example of the way of working of European Commission President José Manuel Barroso.

In the past the Commission presented proposals which were slightly too ambitious, knowing that they would be watered down by EU governments. But now deals are pre-cooked with key member states, normally the large countries such as France, the UK and, of course, Germany.

Last week Barroso boasted that member states had backed 17 measures the Commission had proposed as part of the energy policy action plan. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warmly endorsed his proposal for key elements to be included in the Berlin Declaration marking the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome. EU governments were split into two camps over how to sanction Turkey for its lack of progress towards EU membership but they agreed the Commission’s middle course of suspending negotiations on eight chapters.

Barroso is unembarrassed about his approach of closely consulting in advance with the crucial member states. He dubs his way of working "co-operation", contrasting it with a more confrontational approach which many MEPs seem to advocate when they accuse Barroso of being a "Commission president for the Council [of Ministers]".

Catherine Day, the Commission secretary-general and one of the officials wielding most influence on the president, recently rejected suggestions that the Commission was so willing to work closely with EU governments that it might fall in to a trap of "self-censorship". Day argued that making progress on key issues required a lot of time finding out member states’ views and addressing their concerns. If this was not done early in the process it would have to be done afterwards, she said. The Commission remained as ambitious as ever, she said, adding that there was "no point being so ambitious no one follows you".

But Barroso’s approach has aroused some criticism amid concern that, for him, some member states are more equal than others.

In particular, he is accused of doing favours for large member states such as Germany and France (one example being his decision to drop a plan to bring in common rules for copyright levies after French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin informed him of the political difficulties it would cause for France’s well-treated creative artists). Some have suggested that his particular closeness to Merkel stem from a desire to serve a second term as Commission president as his chances of returning to Portuguese politics seem slim. Senior diplomats from smaller member states have questioned whether Barroso’s consultative approach is as even-handed as it should be, warning that if the tendency becomes more acute it could undermine the Commission’s role as guardian of the treaty.

On one level, Barroso is simply operating in a sensible political way. One of the two EU leaders who were instrumental in getting him the current job, Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi, has gone and the other, the UK’s Tony Blair, will be gone later this year. Trying to do his job with little or no support from EU leaders seated around the European Council table would get him nowhere, not least at a time when, in the aftermath of the ‘No’ votes to the EU constitution, politicians are increasingly nervous about their voters’ distrust of the EU, leading to a stronger trend of defending national interests in the Council. One example of this tendency was the Netherlands’ very tough position on its contribution to the Union’s budget during the negotiations in 2005.

To a certain extent, an EU of 27 member states requires more consultation to make progress, while it has long been an unavoidable political reality that trying to get a deal in the face of opposition from two or more of the most important member states is impossible.

But Barroso needs to be careful that his consultative or co-operative approach does not mean too many sweetheart deals for Berlin, Paris or London. After all, if he does want a second term, the support from just a handful of leaders will not be enough.

Last week’s (8-9 March) summit on tackling climate change and energy policy was the latest example of the way of working of European Commission President José Manuel Barroso.