European Diary: Jose Manuel Barroso will celebrate his first anniversary as European Commission president tonight, but few of Brussel's eurocrats will be popping champagne corks.
The former Portugese prime minister has had a bruising start to his tenure as head of the EU executive body and can claim few successes in policy or promoting the bloc.
Forced into an embarrassing climbdown over his choice of justice commissioner by MEPs, Barroso got off to a disastrous start in Brussels. It got worse when Dutch and French voters rejected the constitution, and while his deleting of unnecessary EU red tape may be justified, it has won him few allies among MEPs and officials, more used to legislating than deleting from the Aquis Communitaire.
"I think Barroso has lost the trust of parliamentarians, particularly from the socialist group," says Proinsias De Rossa, Dublin Labour MEP, who is sharply critical of the lack of consultation with the parliament over his deregulation policy. "This lack of trust is very different from simply not agreeing with him politically. It is also clearly evident from the body language of leftist deputies when Barroso speaks in the parliament."
Barosso's difficult personal relationship with France's Jacques Chirac, who has blamed the commission for the No vote on the constitution and for not doing enough to protect French workers, has also curtailed his ability to pursue his agenda of boosting growth and jobs. The criticism, although self-serving and probably unfair, underlines the tightrope that Barroso has to walk in his dealings with EU political heavyweights France, Germany and Britain.
"He hasn't had an easy ride in his first year because he has been caught up in internal turmoil in France and Germany," says one commission insider, who does not want to be named. "I think he has the right agenda but he has been constrained by member states failure to support him and the difficulties caused by EU enlargement."
A major problem for Barroso is that much of the responsibility for delivering his agenda of growth, jobs and innovation lies with member states rather than the commission - not that national governments with an eye to public opinion would acknowledge it.
In the absence of a new EU constitutional treaty member states are also flexing their muscles threatening to claw back powers that currently reside with Brussels. French attempts to curtail trade commissioner Peter Mandelson's mandate to conduct world trade talks - a key area of responsibility for the commission - are a case in point.
Barroso's task has also been complicated by an increase in protectionist sentiment in some EU states, which threatens one of the EU's core goals: the creation of a single internal market. A directive to liberalise the market for services remains stalled amid opposition from countries fearful of the "Polish plumber".
The concept of "economic patriotism" is also flourishing in countries with high unemployment such as France and Italy, where French prime minister Dominique de Villepin is working on laws to protect strategic industries from foreign buyers, and Italian central bank governor Antonio Fazio faces investigation for trying to stop a Dutch bank take over Italy's Banca Antonveneta.
"Protectionism is the key issue," says Paul Hofheinz, of the pro-market think-tank, Lisbon Council. "The EU project was set up to overcome these issues and encourage countries to take the high road. It is interesting that 50 years later this is exactly where the tensions till lie. There is not much community spirit in Europe right now."
Uncertainty over the next EU budget also threatens Barroso's commission, and he has warned of "a real crisis" if no deal can be secured next month. Yet even if a deal is agreed for the 2007-13 budget under the British presidency, it will fall short of the commission proposal for a budget worth 1.24 per cent of EU GDP. Six of the big donors to EU coffers, including Britain, Sweden and the Netherlands, oppose increasing the budget.
However, amid all the portents of doom and gloom there are signs the EU is expanding its remit in certain sectors, particularly in foreign and judicial affairs. Later this week the EU will set up a new overseas mission in Rafah to monitor the crossing between Gaza and Egypt. Israel's acceptance of the mission marks a watershed for Israeli-EU relations and further boosts the bloc's overseas police/military missions, which have increased from four to 10 in just over a year.
Similarly, recent EU deals on defence procurement and anti-terrorism signal that in certain areas the spirit of collegiality necessary for the EU to work can be found.
However, these external achievements will not enable Barroso to deliver on his core agenda. Instead, he will have to hope that the new German chancellor Angela Merkel and political changes at the top in France in 2007 will help him to reinvigorate the commission.