Barroso: Commission needs ‘presidential-style’ leadership

The President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, has said that a "presidential style" of leading the Commission is the only way to avoid paralysis in decision-making in an enlarged team.

"There is a strong collegial spirit in my Commission, but at the end we need the arbitration role of the president," Barroso said in an interview with European Voice. Otherwise there would be "a fragmentation" or "Balkanisation" of the Commission, he warned.

Following suggestions that he has a tendency to overrule commissioners if he thinks their portfolios - such as energy - are priorities, Barroso said with a laugh: "I am not autocratic."

"On the contrary, I like to listen to all opinions and I see myself as a consensus builder.

"But in fact the authority of the president in the College is a prerequisite for its effectiveness," he said, adding that because of its size, the Commission needed "a president that is seen by members of the Commission as the last resort arbiter and authority".

Almost two years after his team took office amid gloomy predictions that the enlarged Commission would be weaker and ineffective, Barroso claimed that the Commission was stronger.

"The Commission is more important, and not less important, in the enlarged European Council," he said, referring to gatherings of EU government leaders. After the EU enlarged to 25 members, Barroso said, there was "a need for the member states, more than ever, to find…the focal point that comes from the initiative of the Commission", which helped "shape the debate" and give continuity, especially in external relations.

At last week’s (20 October) summit in Lahti Barroso consulted with leaders of several new member states, including Poland and Lithuania, on their concerns about relations with Russia and communicated them in discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He claimed he had "enough support for his mission" within the European Council, including from the large member states.

But the litmus test for Barroso will come next year, when a series of proposals on boosting competition in the internal market for energy could put him on a collision course with the German government. Chancellor Angela Merkel has criticised Commission plans for a pan-European energy regulator and to force energy companies to unbundle their production and distribution businesses.

But Barroso, who attended a meeting of the German cabinet to prepare the forthcoming EU presidency, said that he did not see any "fundamental difference" between the German government and the Commission’s approach. "I don’t anticipate any problem, but of course we will defend the general interest and our European agenda."

He added that the European regulator was "an option among others" and that it was still to be seen whether the best way to address failures was through a European regulator or a more integrated co-ordination between national regulators.

The internal cohesion of Barroso’s team has been brought in question after one of its most senior members, Enterprise and Industry Commissioner Günter Verheugen, accused senior officials of blocking the drive to cut red tape, saying that commissioners were locked in a power struggle with top civil servants. Verheugen’s comments have been criticised by other commissioners including Administrative Affairs Commissioner Siim Kallas and Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding.

Barroso, who said that Verheugen had his full confidence, added that the Commission’s civil service was "very competent and could stand any comparison with any national administration". Very often "bureaucratic problems" came from member states, which "put pressure on the EU institutions to come up with regulations", he said.

The president of the Commission also pledged to tackle member states guilty of "economic nationalism", saying that failing to do so, although it would make him very popular with some governments, "would be the end of the credibility of the European Commission".

But the question is how much would Barroso risk being unpopular with government leaders, to avoid jeopardising his chances to be reappointed in 2009. He denied, with a smile, that he was seeking a second term. "I am not thinking about this now," he said, adding: "The future belongs to God."

The President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, has said that a "presidential style" of leading the Commission is the only way to avoid paralysis in decision-making in an enlarged team.