[Ip-health] EU commission musical chairs begins in Brussels

[Michelle Childs]

http://euobserver.com/9/25773/?rk=3D1
EU commission musical chairs begins in Brussels
04.03.2008 - 17:42 CET | By Honor Mahony
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission's current term still
has over a year to go but already a number of commissioners are
looking to new political careers, threatening to undermine the tight
ship run by President Jose Manuel Barroso.

Last week, it was officially confirmed that Markos Kyprianou, EU
health commissioner, had resigned from his job to become foreign
minister of Cyprus following the election of a new Cypriot president.


Italian commissioner Franco Frattini, one of the most high-profile of
the 27-member team and in charge of the important justice and home
affairs portfolio, may follow suit.

He wants to take four weeks off to campaign in Italy's snap general
election on 13-14 April and is said to be eyeing a ministerial job
should political ally Silvio Berlusconi get back into the prime
minister's seat.

More lately, there have also been suggestions that the man in charge
of the heavy-weight economic and monetary affairs post, Spain's
Joaquin Almunia, may also jump ship if Spanish Socialist Prime
Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero wins a general election this
weekend.

Rumours had also circulated about whether fisheries commissioner Joe
Borg, a Maltese national, will return to the small Mediterranean
island to contest the general election there on 8 March, although the
Times of Malta recently reported that Mr Borg is unlikely to take this
step.

Commissioners sloping off before their five-year term ends is not new.
It is a phenomenon that tends to mark the twilight years of each
commission period.

Former commission President Romano Prodi, who himself openly
campaigned on the national political stage as his term came to a
close, had to contend with the departure of several of his colleagues
for different jobs.

Monetary affairs commissioner Pedro Solbes became finance minister in
Madrid, regional commissioner Michel Barnier took on the job of French
foreign minister, while Finland's Erkki Liikanen, in charge of
industry, became head of a bank in Helsinki. Greek employment
commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou also resigned her post early.

The current unrest in the commission is set to be followed by more
changes at the beginning of 2009, when the new EU treaty is supposed
to come into force.

If, as expected, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, from Spain,
takes on the more powerful role foreseen in the treaty, he will become
vice-president of the commission as well as retaining his foreign
policy role.

This will have the knock on effect of leaving Austrian commissioner
Benita Ferrero-Waldner without much to do - she is currently in charge
of external relations - and prompting the departure of Spain's Mr
Almunia, as the treaty only foresees one commissioner per member state.

Political animals
So far the commission has taken the start of the game of political
musical chairs in the Brussels executive with equanimity, repeating
that the commissioners are political animals and it is a sign of their
quality as politicians that they are in the running for high-profile
posts back home.

But it does give Mr Barroso a political headache. The former
Portuguese prime minister has to hold the team together until his term
ends in autumn 2009, while maintaining the political unity needed to
present a strong outward face.

In addition, the commission changes means that the European Parliament
also takes on a role in the power play, as each new commissioner has
to be heard and approved by MEPs.

For his part, Mr Barroso will have to maintain a full and leading role
until the very end if he has a chance of having another term in
office, something he has often hinted he is interested in.

Nonetheless, he is likely to continue to see at least some familiar
faces until his last day in office.

Irish commissioner Charlie McCreevy, in charge of the internal market,
recently told Irish journalists he was not going anywhere before his
post was formally finished.


=A9 2008 EUobserver, All rights reserved
---------
Michelle Childs
Head of European Affairs
Knowledge Ecology International
michelle.childs@keionline.org

"The world we have made, as a result of the level of thinking we have
done thus far, creates problems we cannot solve at the same level of
thinking at which we created them=94  Albert Einstein