Barroso Commission
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The Barroso Commission is the European Commission that has been in office since 22 November 2004 and is due to serve until 31 October, 2009. It consists of its president, José Manuel Durão Barroso, and 24 other commissioners. From 1 January2007, it will be enlarged with one commissioners from each of the countries acceding to the European Union on that date, namely Romania and Bulgaria.
The Barroso Commission was originally set to take office on 1 November 2004. However, strong opposition from the European Parliament towards the first proposed composition of the Barroso Commission forced Barroso, as President-designate, to withdraw his proposed line-up without submitting it to a vote of approval on that date. A revised Commission was finally approved by Parliament on 18 November (449 votes in favour, 149 against and 82 abstentions).
Contents |
Membership
| Portfolio(s) | Commissioner | Member state | Party affiliation |
|---|---|---|---|
| President | José Manuel Durão Barroso |  Portugal | PSD |
| First Vice-President; Institutional Relations & Communication Strategy | Margot Wallström |  Sweden | SDWP |
| Economic & Financial Affairs | Joaquín Almunia |  Spain | PSOE |
| Vice-President; Enterprise & Industry | Günter Verheugen |  Germany | SPD |
| Vice-President; Justice, Freedom, & Security | Franco Frattini |  Italy | Forza Italia |
| Vice-President; Transport | Jacques Barrot |  France | UMP |
| Vice-President; Administrative Affairs, Audit, & Anti-Fraud | Siim Kallas |  Estonia | ERP |
| Internal Market & Services | Charlie McCreevy |  Ireland | Fianna Fáil |
| Agriculture & Rural Development | Mariann Fischer Boel |  Denmark | Venstre |
| Competition | Neelie Kroes |  Netherlands | VVD |
| Trade | Peter Mandelson |  United Kingdom | Labour |
| Fisheries & Maritime Affairs | Joe Borg |  Malta | Nationalist Party |
| Environment | Stavros Dimas |  Greece | New Democracy |
| Health & Consumer Protection | Markos Kyprianou |  Cyprus | Democratic Party |
| Development & Humanitarian Aid | Louis Michel |  Belgium | Reformist Movement |
| Enlargement | Olli Rehn |  Finland | Centre Party |
| Employment, Social Affairs, & Equal Opportunities | Vladimír Špidla |  Czech Republic | ČSSD |
| Taxation & Customs Union | László Kovács |  Hungary | MSZP |
| Financial Programming & the Budget | Dalia Grybauskaitė |  Lithuania | none |
| External Relations & European Neighbourhood Policy | Benita Ferrero-Waldner |  Austria | Austrian People's Party |
| Education, Training, Culture, & Multilingualism | Ján Figeľ |  Slovakia | KDH |
| Regional Policy | Danuta Hübner |  Poland | none |
| Energy | Andris Piebalgs |  Latvia | Latvian Way |
| Science & Research | Janez Potočnik |  Slovenia | liberal |
| Information Society & Media | Viviane Reding |  Luxembourg | CSV |
Summary by political leanings
The colour of the row indicates the approximate political leaning of the office holder using the following scheme:
| affiliation | number of commissioners | including 2007 designates |
|---|---|---|
| right leaning / conservative | 9 | 9 |
| liberal | 8 | 9 |
| left leaning / socialist | 6 | 6 |
| unknown / independent | 2 | 3 |
Commissioners-designate from candidate countries acceding in 2007
| Portfolio(s) | Commissioner | Member state | Party affiliation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consumer Protection | Meglena Kuneva |  Bulgaria | NDSV |
| Multilingualism | Leonard Orban |  Romania | none |
On 2006-10-26, Barroso announced that Meglena Kuneva of the liberal National Movement Simeon II became commissioner-designate from Bulgaria, with the portfolio for consumer protection (taking away part of the portfolio from Markos Kyprianou), pending approval from the European Parliament.[1]
According to the Commission's press briefing on 2006-10-30, the nomination of the commissioner-designate from Romania has been approved. Leonard Orban, former head negotiator of the Accession of Romania to the European Union, has been nominated for the post. European Commission President, Jose Manuel Barosso, has assigned him the newly created "multilingualism" portfolio (taking away part of the portfolio from Ján Figeľ).[2]
First proposed composition
The first announced list of portfolio holders was announced by President-designate Barroso on 12 August, but failed to be approved by the European Parliament. The difference between the first proposed composition and the final one were the following:
- Rocco Buttiglione (of Italy) was proposed as Vice-President, and Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security, instead of Franco Frattini
- Ingrida Udre (of Latvia) was proposed as a commissioner instead of Andris Piebalgs; she was to be responsible for Taxation and Customs Union, which in the final composition became the portfolio of László Kovács.
- László Kovács (of Hungary) was proposed as Commissioner for Energy.
Hearings before the committees of the European Parliament questioned the suitability of several of the candidates; a dispute broke out over Rocco Buttiglione's reported views on homosexuality and women, and the committees also found fault with
- László Kovács, for insufficient professional competence in the energy field
- Neelie Kroes, for insufficient detailed grasp of certain specific subjects
- Mariann Fischer-Boel, for insufficient determination to defend European farmer's interests, and an unwillingness to enter into a dialogue with the parliament
- Ingrida Udre, over allegations of irregularities in the funding of her political party
The most controversial proposed commissioner was Buttiglione. Though he had the support of the European People's Party (the largest of the European Parliament party groups), the Socialists and the Liberals refused to vote for a commission that retained Buttiglione with the justice portfolio.
With rejection by the European Parliament seeming likely, on 27 October 2004, Barroso withdrew his proposal for the new commission. Later Italy's government announced its withdrawal of Buttiglione as designate commissioner, nominating Franco Frattini in his place. At Barroso's request, Latvia's government likewise withdrew Ingrida Udre, nominating Andris Piebalgs in her place. Andris Piebalgs had previously served as chef de cabinet to Sandra Kalniete, Latvia's member of the Prodi Commission. Lastly Hungarian Laszlo Kovacs was moved to the taxation and customs position.
Barrot scandal
Barroso's Commission faced another scandal when, shortly before the Commission entered office, it was revealed by United Kingdom Independence Party MEP Nigel Farage that Jacques Barrot, the commissioner from France, had been convicted of fraud in 2000. After this, Barrot had received a presidential amnesty from Jacques Chirac, making it illegal in France to even mention his conviction. Members of the Socialist and Liberal groups in the European Parliament urged Barroso to suspend Barrot from the Commission for failing to disclose his conviction during the confirmation period. Barrot has been a commissioner since January 2000, having served as Commissioner for Regional Policy under Romano Prodi.
See also
References
- ^ European Commission press release: President Barroso presents the Commissioner-designate for Bulgaria (2006-10-26; reference IP/06/1485)
- ^ European Commission press release: President Barroso presents the Commissioner designate for Romania (2006-10-31; reference IP/06/1499)
External links
- Members of the Barroso Commission
- Photo of the 25 Members of the European Commission presided by José Manuel Durão Barroso European NAvigator
| Preceded by: Prodi Commission | European Commission | Succeeded by: -- |
Categories
Historical European Commissions