Barroso grilled by MEPs

José Manuel Barroso, the European Union Council's nominee for the presidency of the European Commission, this week took part in a series of hearings organised by the seven political groups within the European Parliament.

A debate on his nomination by the full Parliament is on the agenda for next week's plenary session in Strasbourg and a vote will be taken on July 22.

A number of political groups, notably the Socialists and the Greens, were concerned that Mr Barroso had resigned as Prime Minister of Portugal immediately after his nomination by the European Council which, they believed, could indicate that he - wrongly - considered Parliament's approval to be a mere formality.

From their different political perspectives, MEPs in the groups tried to find out the intentions of Mr Barroso as a potential Commission president, his views on the role of the Commission and its president and his position on some of the major issues on the current or future European agenda: the financial perspective, the Stability Pact, the Kyoto protocol, services of general interest, relations with the United States and Iraq.

Questioned on his nomination and on a possible "deal" with other nominations, Mr Barroso said: "There was a difficulty in the European Council to find a candidate that could generate a consensus. I was supporting another candidate from the beginning. Finally, my name appeared like a consensus candidate without consideration about any other package."

Nationalist Party MEP Simon Busuttil intervened during the hearings organised by the European People's Party and conveyed to Mr Barroso the greetings and wishes of good luck from the smallest member state of the Union. Dr Busuttil said he hoped that under Mr Barroso's leadership the Commission would also be an honest broker between large and small states. He said that arguments are often made that give the impression of a large-vs-small divide in the European Union. This is why, he said, the European Commission should hammer out common European positions in a way that took into account the divergent views and work as an honest broker between small and large member countries.

Dr Busuttil welcomed Mr Barroso's declared intention to give a fresh impetus to the need to communicate Europe better with the people. He said he looked forward to see the Commission work better and more effectively in explaining the meaning of the European Union to the general public.

Dr Busuttil also appealed to Mr Barroso to strengthen the Mediterranean policy of the European Union.