By IPS Correspondents
BRUSSELS, Oct 21 2004 (IPS)

The EU was plunged further into crisis Thursday after the incoming European Commission president Jose Manuel Durão Barroso failed to resolve a dispute over the next EU executive team.

The stand-off between the European Commission and European Parliament deepened after Barroso refused to back down to members of the European Parliament (MEPs) who are demanding that he drops Rocco Buttiglione, the controversial nominee for the post of justice and civil liberties commissioner.

Barroso said he would instead "personally take charge of human rights issues and cases of discrimination." He did not spell out what he meant by that but said he would set up a team of commissioners he would chair to make sure there is no discrimination on grounds of gender or sexual orientation in his team. This team would include Buttiglione, he said.

Members of the European Parliament’s socialist group vowed to lead an all-out rebellion against the new European Union (EU) executive unless Barroso drops the Italian Buttiglione from his college of commissioners.

The threats came Thursday (Oct. 21) as Barroso met leaders of political parties at the European Parliament in a bid to secure support for Buttiglione’s nomination.

The European Parliament is the only directly elected EU body. The European Commission is the EU executive arm. The new commission is due to take over next month, and the dispute risks leaving the European Union without an executive.

His nomination was rejected by the parliament’s civil liberties committee Oct. 11 after he told a parliamentary hearing earlier that he believed homosexuality was a "sin" and that "marriage was for women to have children and be protected by their husbands.."

Buttiglione was also reported as having said last Friday (Oct. 15) that single mothers were "not very good" people. He later said he had been quoted out of context, and that he was the victim of a "hate campaign."

This is the first time a parliamentary committee has voted against a nominee.

In a letter shown to media representatives Thursday, Buttiglione expressed regret over the comments he had made saying that he had not intended "in any way to offend the feelings of anybody and in particular those of women and homosexuals."

Buttiglione added that he still intended to take up the post as justice chief but offered to step aside whenever "a conflict might arise between my conscience and my duty as commissioner."

The 268-strong conservative European People’s Party – the largest in parliament – solidly backs Buttiglione and insists that the 56-year old devout Catholic is the right man to run EU policies on civil liberties, justice, asylum and immigration.

The socialists number 200 in a parliament with 731 members. The Liberals number 88 and the Independence/Democracy group 37.

Many centre-left MEPs have threatened to veto the whole 25-member Commission over the row when they vote Oct. 27 on the new commission. EU law does not allow the European Parliament to accept or reject individual members of the commission – it can only veto an entire team.

Socialist group leader Martin Schulz said Barroso’s compromise is unacceptable. "My group is demanding a reshuffle of the commissioners," he said in a statement Thursday. He is supported by the Green Party, the Communists and the Independent Group.

The outcome of a vote could depend on the Liberals. They are split on whether to accept Buttiglione, but Liberal leader Graham Watson expressed his dissatisfaction with Barroso’s position.

"Mr Barroso is not proposing to move Mr Buttiglione. The ALDE group (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe) advised him to do so and while we recognise that he does not enjoy complete freedom of manoeuvre we regret that he has not followed our advice," he said.

Barroso told media representatives after his meeting with MEPs that he remains confident the European Parliament will approve his whole team next week.

"I’m very confident that we will get the support of a clear majority," he said. He acknowledged "the enormous importance parliament attaches to fundamental rights."

Barroso insisted that the next commission will be "absolutely opposed to any kind of discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender, or religious beliefs." The institutional dispute has forced a premature test of Barroso’s authority and has strained his relations with the parliament just days before he is due to take over the commission next month.

The argument is not a good start to the five-year term for Barroso’s commission. Barroso was hoping to kick off his ambitious agenda of promoting economic growth with a strong set of commissioners.

The question now is whether a majority of MEPs will go for the option of sacking the lot or suffer Buttiglione’s views on sex, women and asylum to avoid a crisis in the EU.

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