Tonio Borg’s confirmation as European Commissioner is not a foregone conclusion despite a successful performance in front of MEPs on Tuesday.
Many members are still concerned about whether he would actually follow this line
Dr Borg impressed MEPs during an intensive three-hour grilling but the euphoria was dampened yesterday with the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats failing to reach a conclusion on whether to support him.
The Socialist MEPs will adopt a formal position on Tuesday, a day before the European Parliament votes on Dr Borg’s nomination in a secret ballot.
In a statement, the Socialist group said “many members” were still concerned about whether Dr Borg would honour his pledge not to allow his personal views to interfere with his actions as Commissioner.
“We just have his word for it at this point and many members are still concerned about whether he would actually follow this line once his appointment was confirmed,” Socialist leader Hannes Swoboda said in a statement.
During the grilling session Dr Borg was repeatedly asked about his views on abortion and gay rights in relation to documented statements he made in the past that perturbed some MEPs. He will hold the health and consumer affairs portfolio if appointed Commissioner.
Already shunned by the Liberals – they welcomed the nomination but asked for Dr Borg to be given a different portfolio – and the Greens, Dr Borg’s approval hinges on the Socialist vote.
According to Labour MEP Edward Scicluna, some Socialist MEPs who were against Dr Borg were impressed by his performance but rethought their position a day later.
“They felt Tonio Borg’s performance was too good to be true and thought he had pulled a fast one on them,” Prof. Scicluna told The Times.
He believes lobby groups may have played an important part to sway back the opinion of sceptical MEPs who were impressed with Dr Borg’s replies.
Most MEPs found Dr Borg to be on top of his brief despite the short time span he had to prepare for the hearing, Prof. Scicluna said.
“But for the sceptics the question remains what would Tonio Borg do if his personal values came into conflict with European values,” he added.
Prof. Scicluna estimated that less than half of Socialist MEPs were against the nomination but emphasised that a letter Dr Borg will be asked to sign outlining the guarantees he gave in the hearing could go a long way to allay fears.
The letter is normal procedure after every hearing and is agreed upon by all political groupings.
For Nationalist MEP David Casa, the letter carries weight but the true test remains Wednesday’s plenary vote. The effort to convince MEPs had to be done on an individual basis given the vote was secret, he added.
“From now until Wednesday it is important for Tonio Borg to continue meeting MEPs and we will help him in this,” Mr Casa said.
He said most MEPs acknowledged that Dr Borg gave “a brilliant performance”. However, he noted that some MEPs were prejudiced irrespective of what Dr Borg had to say during the hearing.
“For the Greens, what Tonio Borg said during the hearing did not matter at all.
“They may as well not have come to the hearing because they were prejudiced and remained so,” Mr Casa said.
It seems that Dr Borg’s fate will now depend to some extent on his efforts to meet and convince MEPs of his intention to keep his personal values distinct from his work as commissioner.
This is what the Socialist group is expecting in the coming days. “It will be up to Dr Borg to further clarify and convince us that he will stand by those statements and keep the promises he made,” the statement said.
Prof. Scicluna said the Labour MEPs were working to convince their fellow group members to support Dr Borg’s nomination. “We want to close this chapter and get on with life.”
ksansone@timesofmalta.com