Jury still out on Prodi at half-term

Date: 27/06/02

By Martin Banks

GROUP leaders in the European Parliament have given a mixed half-term verdict on Commission President Romano Prodi.

The 63-year-old Italian chief has recently bolstered his authority with a series of headline-grabbing proposals aimed at strengthening the executive's powers.

But fellow Liberal Graham Watson, leader of the 53-strong group of European Liberals, says Prodi could have 'played his cards better' in some areas. 'For instance, he recently delivered a speech at Oxford University where he said the UK should, basically, forget its alliance with the US and concentrate more on the EU,' said Watson.

'A quieter type of diplomacy is sometimes preferable and it would have perhaps been better if, on this occasion, he'd had this conversation in private.'

Watson, however, says the former Italian prime minister had generally done better than many have given him credit for.

Hans-Gert Pöttering, leader of the European People's Party, Parliament's biggest group, praised Prodi for meeting most of the challenges facing him when he took the helm in 1999.

'When he took over, the executive had passed through some very difficult months after the resignation of the previous Commission. Prodi had to tackle a major reform of the Commission, rebuild confidence with the Parliament and bring the enlargement negotiations on their way. One can see that he has been able to meet these challenges. Relations with Parliament have developed very positively.'

German MEP Martin Schulz, deputy leader of the 180-strong Group of Socialists, was less enthusiastic than the EPP leader.

He said: 'Despite his recent pronouncements, Prodi simply has not been as strong or aggressive as he should have been in defending the role of the Commission. To his credit, he has tried to provoke debate on internal reforms but it is difficult to find any other plusses about his presidency so far.'

Monica Frassoni, joint leader of the Group of Greens/European Free Alliance, said Prodi had improved since taking over from Jacques Santer as Commission head. 'When he first came in he didn't seem to know what to do or which way to turn but he has recently chosen to defend the importance and legitimacy of the Commission and this is welcome.

'However, we are still critical of him for his lack of sensitivity on certain issues which are dear to us, such as environmental sustainable development.'

Jens-Peter Bonde, leader of the eurosceptic Group for a Europe of Democracies (EDD), said: 'He has been promising in some things, such as transparency, but less efficient in actually delivering the goods.'

Political group leaders in the European Parliament have given a mixed half-term verdict on Commission President Romano Prodi.