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12/3/05

BBC NEWS: European power struggle rumbles on - Neelie Kroes under scrutiny for allegations of conflict of interest

BBC NEWS

European power struggle rumbles on- Neelie Kroes under scrutiny for allegations of business conflict of interest

After a three week hiatus, two members of the EU initial directory team have been replaced, and a third has been moved to a new job. Now, after much huffing and puffing, parliament has approved the reshuffled line-up. Most members of the three main political groups in parliament - the Conservatives, the Socialists and the Liberals - voted in favour. The new Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso hailed a "great result". Hostility in the European Parliament to the new Commission has certainly not disappeared. From the Greens on one hand, and from the Eurosceptic right on the other, there was nothing but criticism. "Would you buy a used car from this Commission?" asked the UK Independence Party MEP, Nigel Farage. "The answer simply must be no." Question marks remain over several of Mr Barroso's team, not least the new Commissioner for Competition, Neelie Kroes from the Netherlands, who faces allegations of conflicts of interest over her past business links. Many MEPs will be watching her performance extremely closely. Even from those who voted in favour of the new team, there were warnings that no-one should take the parliament for granted from now on. "If the parliament calls upon you, you must come and answer our questions as a priority," said the leader of the Conservative group, Hans-Gert Poettering. "Under the previous Commission the response to that principle was very patchy," he said. The battle for institutional influence within the EU will rumble on, with a newly confident parliament waiting for another opportunity to raise its profile.

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