Call for Commission to reflect poll result

Date: 17/06/1999

By Simon Taylor

EU LEADERS are coming under pressure to ensure that they reflect the gains made by centre-right parties in the Euro-elections when they nominate their candidates for the European Commission.

Even before all the votes had been counted, senior MEPs were insisting that the new team must reflect the change in the balance of power within the European Parliament after the poll.

Parliament President José María Gil-Robles said the results showed that "European citizens do not want Europe to be dominated by a single European entity", referring to the losses suffered by the Socialists who run 11 of the 15 EU governments.

Incoming Commission President Romano Prodi is anxious to ensure that the team he chooses to serve under him takes account of the balance of political forces in the Union. However, he insists that the quality of those nominated by governments to join his team remains the top priority.

Sources close to Prodi, who began the final phase of selecting Commissioners this week, say he will not challenge hopefuls on the basis of their party allegiance unless the prospective team is too weak.

"It is not for Prodi to choose people within national parties. He has always said he intended to base his choices on personality and quality, leaving political elements to the member states," said one aide.

However, Prodi is anxious to avoid some governments nominating candidates of a lower calibre than those they would otherwise have chosen in the rush to satisfy demands for the election results to be taken into account. "If the elections lead to changes within the member states which affect the quality of candidates, that is a horse of a different colour," said one aide.

One of the main implications of the election results is that one of Germany's two Commissioners is likely to come from the opposition CDU, and not from the ruling SPD as originally expected, with speculation centering on former Transport Minister Matthias Wissman. Bonn has indicated it wants the Green Party's Michaele Schreyer to get one of the economics or finance jobs in the Commission.

The victory of the Liberals in the Belgian national elections may have also put paid to the hopes of former Finance Minister and Christian Democrat Philippe Maystadt of becoming a Commissioner. Observers say the Liberals may decide to put their own candidate forward, although the nomination will be linked to the painstaking task of building a coalition government.

Prodi's aides are confident that the process of forming new governments in Belgium and Luxembourg will not delay completion of the list of new Commissioners which the incoming president has promised to deliver to the new Parliament by 21 July.

One said Prodi's commitment not to discuss individual Commissioners until after last weekend's polls showed that he had taken the possible impact of the elections into account from the start.