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Wall Street Journal ^ | August 16, 2004 | Editorial

[OESY]

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As Jose Manuel Barroso read the names of the Commissioners he had chosen for the key portfolios, it became clear that the center of gravity has shifted. France and Germany are no longer calling the shots. Almost none of the duo's central demands were met while all important economic positions went to avowed free-marketers.

It all began when 10 new members, mostly from the former Communist East, joined the EU in May. In contrast to Paris and Berlin, the newcomers pursue largely free-market policies and support the U.S. war in Iraq. Heralding that tectonic shift in the balance of power was Mr. Barroso's own nomination in June. France and Germany had pushed for Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt. Particularly in foreign policy, Belgium had been toeing the Franco-German line.

But in this new Europe, Portugal's Prime Minister was chosen instead. With his free-market credentials and support of the U.S. war in Iraq, it was hard to imagine a greater setback for the Franco-German ambitions in Europe than Mr. Barroso's nomination. But last week it got even worse for Berlin and Paris.

When they couldn't push through Mr. Verhofstadt, France and Germany demanded to be compensated with key economic posts. France lobbied hard to get the competition position, probably the most important portfolio. Paris has had many run-ins with current Competition Commissioner Mario Monti, who tried to curtail the billions of euros of illegal subsides propping up ailing French national champions.

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[Unam Sanctam]

France and Germany are no longer calling the shots.

Here's hoping! But my concern is that over, the Eastern Europeans will lose their memories of communism and be corrupted by France's and Germany's corrupt appeasement and knee-jerk anti-American mentality.

[CasearianDaoist]

IT also might just be posture - they will back off until the EU constitution is in place. Time will tell. The only thing the Eastern Europeans have going for them is the contrast between the vibrancies of their economies and the poor performance of the "core" EU countries.

[wideawake]

The ultimate goal of the EU is for the unification of the continent's pension systems, which will enable France and Germany to offload their crippling pension obligations on the rest of Europe.

This will create great animosity on the part of Eastern Europeans - France and Germany will have to sacrifice clout for solvency or vice versa.

[Cronos]

I doubt it -- the Italians, Portuguese and until recently, the Spanish would be supportive of the Poles and other eastern europeans