The president-designate of the European Commission, Mr Romano Prodi, yesterday pledged to MEPs to drive the EU forward "in a great tide of reform and change" and that he "would not tolerate corruption in any form".
But in a significant concession to a gathering tide of opposition to his candidacy in the European elections, he promised to campaign, but not run. Addressing Parliament here as part of the start of his ratification process, the former Italian prime minister set out a broad and unspecific programme for the new Commission.
But in the wide-ranging speech he pressed all the right buttons for parliamentarians in pledging to insist on individual and collective account ability of Commissioners and senior officials to Parliament. MEPs will vote in May on the nomination.
Mr Prodi, who goes on this evening to meet EU leaders at a special summit in Brussels, made clear, however, that he would be no hostage to either MEPs or heads of government.
He insisted that he would exercise vigorously the new powers given to him by the Amsterdam Treaty in sharing with the latter in the choice of high-calibre Commissioners and exercising his right to allocate and change portfolios.
The message to MEPs seemed to be that commissioners who failed to live up to their responsibilities could be grilled by Parliament but would be sacked or reshuffled by him.
The message to leaders was that they should have at least a couple of names in mind when they come to discuss, probably in early June, their nominees for the new Commission.
But any hope that the leaders would tonight be able to consider his reform ideas in detail has been dispelled by the Kosovo crisis, to which the bulk of the meeting will now be devoted. The Secretary-General of the UN, Mr Kofi Annan, will be present in an attempt to draw the UN back into a framework for a peace implementation force for Kosovo that could be more acceptable to both Russia and Serbia.
Diplomats emphasised, however, that while a force under NATO direction and UN mandate like Sfor in Bosnia might be acceptable to the NATO allies, there could be no question of one controlled operationally by the UN.
Mr Prodi referred only in passing to the Kosovo crisis, emphasising that the external crisis added urgency to the restoration of the authority of the Commission.
But he did call for the EU to continue to work towards the creation of its own defence capability.
Mr Prodi also made clear his determination to see the EU moving to closer political integration and further reform of the way all the institutions work, streamlining the Commission, and extending both co-decision for MEPs and majority voting for ministers.
While the 1980s had seen the move to a single market, he said, and the 1990s to the single currency, the next decade should see the move to a single economy. And in a reference that will scarcely have endeared him to socialists he insisted that would mean a move away from the European welfare model with its high standards of social protection but rigidities which hit competitiveness.
Although there is still some confusion and disappointment among MEPs at the lengthy timetable for the ratification of his team - now likely to be completed only in September by the new Parliament - there was broad support for his appointment from the main groups.
The leader of the Socialist group, Ms Pauline Green, particularly welcomed Mr Prodi's assurance that that he would ensure that officials at all levels would be held personally responsible for their actions. And she urged him to ensure that the Commission functioned as a team "rather than 20 different fiefdoms".
The leader of the Liberals, Mr Pat Cox, said the resignation of the Commission reflected the "significant maturing of the democratic process" and that MEPs could no longer be regarded as junior partners. He urged Mr Prodi to "be his own man".
Mr John Cushnahan (Fine Gael, Munster) said that Mr Prodi had clearly shown he understood that the balance of power had shifted towards the democratically elected Parliament.
He had confirmed his credentials as "second to none, and his commitment to the process of European integration", Mr Cushnahan said.
Mr Pat "the Cope" Gallagher (Fianna Fail, Connacht-Ulster) said that the Union urgently needed the stability of a new Commission put in place for 51/2 years.