Barroso speelt poker met Europees Parlement (en) - Hoofdinhoud

EUOBSERVER/BRUSSELS - Incoming Commission President José Manuel Durao Barroso has decided to keep his controversial new team of Commissioners exactly the way it is - increasing the risk of the whole team being voted down by MEPs next week.

Following a meeting with the leaders of the political groups in the European Parliament on Thursday, Mr Barroso asked, "is it reasonable to make a Commission fall because two or three Commissioners are not satisfactory"?

He told MEPs that he would keep Rocco Buttiglione - the Italian Commissioner under fire for his conservative views on gays and women - in the justice and home affairs portfolio.

Special committee

He said he would set up a team of Commissioners, which he would personally chair, to make sure there is no discrimination on the grounds of gender or sexual orientation in the Commission's policies.

This specialised team would include Mr Buttiglione himself, Vladimir Spidla (social affairs), Margot Wallstrom (communication), Louis Michel (Development) and Benita Ferreo-Waldner (external relations).

Mr Barroso's decision is supported by the largest group in the parliament - the centre-right EPP (268 MEPS) and the small nationalist UEN group (27 MEPs).

Referring to a letter that Mr Buttiglione wrote apologising for his comments, leader of the EPP, Hans-Gert Poettering said "We know that human and political life is not perfect" adding that he would recommend his group to vote yes.

However, the Socialists (200 MEPs) have rejected the Barroso compromise "what he put to us this morning was much less than I had been led to expect" said Martin Schulz, leader of the Socialists.

"I think we're going to vote no ... and I think this Commission deserves a no", said Mr Schulz.

The Greens (42 MEPs) are similarly against. "The Greens are making a final appeal for Barroso to make a new proposal if he does not want his Commission to be completely weakened" said a group statement.

The remaining two groups, the leftist GUE (41) and the eurosceptic ID (37) are also expected to vote no.

Depending on the Liberals

Whether or not the new Commission sees the light of day at the parliament next Wednesday (27 October) will depend to a large extent on the third biggest political group - the liberals (88 MEPs).

Graham Watson said his group's "strong preference remains the replacement of the Commissioner designate for Justice and Home Affairs, either through reshuffle or resignation".

However, he stopped short of saying which way he would advise his group to vote - it is to decide on Monday.

What kind of vote

A lot will also depend on how many MEPs abstain in the vote - and not just on who votes yes or no.

Abstentions do not count and some parliament insiders believe that if several MEPs abstain, Mr Barroso and his team will win a slim majority.

If MEPs do vote the Commission down, the current Prodi Commission will have to continue in a caretaker position and Mr Barroso would have go back to the drawing board in terms of who gets which portfolio.

A coming of age for the European Parliament?

For some MEPs, this is a coming of age for the European Parliament as it pits it directly against the member states.

Mr Barroso, say sources, was hampered by member states' reluctance to give more power to MEPs.

According to Andrew Duff, a liberal MEP, the current situation is one of those "historical moments".

"I would like to see some prime ministers say 'look it's time to come home'", said Mr Duff referring to Mr Buttiglione.

Under EU law, MEPs can only vote down the whole Commission but not individual commissioners.

However, if Mr Barroso were to swap Mr Buttiglione's portfolio it would be as a direct result of a European Parliament's committee decision to vote against the Italian.

This would open the door to the increased power that the Brussels assembly is looking for.