EU: If José Manuel Barroso hoped to antagonise MEPs in Strasbourg yesterday, he made an excellent start, arriving more than 15 minutes late and offering no apology for keeping them waiting. Mr Barroso's prospective Commission team was present, listening meekly as MEPs outlined their objections to at least five of them, including the controversial Italian conservative, Mr Rocco Buttiglione, writes Denis Staunton in Strasbourg.
Mr Barroso offered new details about the work of a Commission sub-committee on fundamental rights, which he plans to chair himself. He promised a new anti-discrimination directive and to combat racism, anti-Semitism and xenophobia.
He also made clear that, unlike Mr Buttiglione, he opposes a proposal to set up detention camps outside the EU for refugees seeking asylum within the Union.
Mr Barroso told MEPs he had listened to their concerns but he ruled out giving them what they want - a Commission reshuffle. "All the information I have, after careful consideration and extensive consultations, make me think that switching portfolios at this stage of the procedure would cause more political and institutional problems than it would solve."
Mr Barroso, who spoke in Portuguese, French and English, was followed by the leader of the centre-right European People's Party, Mr Hans-Gert Poettering, who suggested that the row over Mr Buttiglione was about freedom of conscience.
"No one should tolerate discrimination, including discrimination based on religious belief," he said.
The Socialist leader, Mr Martin Schulz, accused Mr Barroso of ignoring the parliamentary hearings of his Commissioners, a process that lasted six weeks. "The response we got from you today is: I will not change anything. All I can do is to call on you to think this through again."
The Green leader, Mr Daniel Cohn-Bendit, compared Mr Barroso to the conductor of an orchestra that had just done a dreadful audition. "We saw a pianist playing the oboe, a violinist playing the drums and we told you that your orchestra didn't sound very good," he said.
The Liberal leader, Mr Graham Watson, was careful not to pledge the votes of his MEPs in any direction but said that if the Commission was rejected, it would be the fault of national governments in the Council of Ministers. "The silence you hear is the sound of Europe's governments leaving your Commission swinging in the wind," he said.
The Fianna Fáil MEP, Mr Brian Crowley, who shares the leadership of the Union for a Europe of Nations, said Mr Barroso had responded to Parliament's concerns and accused Mr Buttiglione's critics of stifling free speech.
"From some of the speeches this morning and our discussions over the last week, that if you have experience in business or politics, if you have strongly held beliefs, if you have a strong ideology, if you have a strong opinion, then, according to some, you are not suitable to be a Commissioner of the European Union," he said.
Throughout the speeches, Mr Buttiglione sat almost expressionless, becoming animated only once, when the Fine Gael MEP, Ms Avril Doyle, said she would support the Commission reluctantly. "My heart is heavy, I must say I have concerns about the reported lack of tolerance expressed by my former colleague in his statements on certain issues such as Baltic minorities, homosexuality and sinning, and on single mothers and fathers," she said. After her intervention, Mr Buttiglione spoke to Ms Doyle for a number of minutes, reassuring her that he would keep his personal and professional views separate.
Responding to the debate, Mr Barroso appeared angry, warning his mainstream opponents not to join Eurosceptics who also planned to vote against him.
"Is it right for you to vote with extremists who want nothing to do with the EU? Doesn't it seem strange that those populists who have constantly been fighting European integration can vote together with you, who are convinced Europeans?"