Lobbyists in paralysis fear

By Martin Banks and Anna McLauchlin

Date: 04/11/04

EU LOBBY groups and campaigners fear that if the failure to approve a new European Commission persists it could plunge the EU into a legislative limbo.

The outgoing Commission, led by Romano Prodi, is continuing in a caretaker role until the new team wins Parliamentary approval.

Daniela Vincenti-Mitchener, spokesperson of the Brussels-based Social Platform, said that its concern was that the development of the Commission's next Social Policy Agenda, the five-year plan for Europe's social policies, might be delayed.

She said: "This is a key document which should be published early in 2005. The delay in appointing the new Commission could delay or derail this work. Worse still, a lack of political leadership within the Commission could lead to a weak plan being produced."

Sylvain Lhote, of GPC International, said: "Competition will be a tricky area because the clock is ticking on those issues and it will be up to Mario Monti [outgoing competition commissioner] to close particular cases."

He warned that areas of environmental policy could be delayed, most notably negotiations on climate change policy after 2012.

The European Banking Federation (FBE), which represents 4,500 banks throughout Europe, warned that the impasse might have more of an impact on the work of the European Parliament.

An FBE source said: "Votes on proposed legislation may be delayed because the Parliament will be preoccupied over the next few weeks with what's happening with the Commission."

But a spokesman for the European People's Party, Parliament's biggest group, disputed this. He said: "The general routine will be interrupted for up to six weeks and, though this is disappointing, we do not expect there will be any crisis in terms of the legislative process.

"In any case, I expect the incoming Commission will be able to catch up with any delays or backlog of work very quickly."

An official at the US Mission to the EU said it was not worried. "We are very busy with our work with the Commission and we plan to continue on all fronts, including our dialogue on border and transport security," he said.

Article reports that EU lobby groups and campaigners fear that if the failure to approve a new European Commission persists this could delay important legislative decisions. The outgoing Commission, led by Romano Prodi, is continuing in a caretaker role until the new team can win Parliamentary approval.