Posted on 10/27/2004 7:38:12 AM PDT by tjwmason
Jose Manuel Barroso, the incoming European Commission President, has called for a delay in a controversial vote to appoint the next list of commissioners.
A new team of 25 commissioners is waiting to get parliamentary approval before they can take up their jobs.
But opposition has been so strong against one of the nominations - Italian Rocco Buttiglione - that Mr Barroso has been forced to delay the vote to allow him to make changes.
The executive must be appointed as a whole by the EU's 732-member assembly.
It had increasingly become clear the European Parliament would veto the team.
Mr Buttiglione, who was the proposed justice commissioner, has called homosexuality a sin and has been criticised for his conservative views on women and marriage.
Mr Barroso said: "I believe that stopping the clock is the best way to find a solution in the best interest of Europe and its people.
"My intention is to change what is necessary and sufficient."
It was unclear when the vote, which had been due to take place at midday today, would be re-scheduled.
It is also not known whether Mr Barroso is going to change faces or just reshuffle the existing 25 nominees.
A negative vote would have thrown the European Union into institutional turmoil and left the EU's head office without proper day-to-day management as of Monday.
A majority of parties, including the Socialists, Greens and Communists who together can muster 283 votes, had been the main opposition to Mr Buttiglione's appointment.
Long live comrad Stalin, Soviet Union and Europeeing Union. We will watch how long it will take for them to hit the dustbin of history.
"Buttiglione Will Boot the Brussels Butt-Boys"
I am not sure you are right... In the EU, you have countries where religion is banned from the public space for more than a century (France) as well as others where religion isn't banned... In such a context, you should be very prudent about religious affirmation of officials...
And let us also not forget that you still have great divisions between the Catholics and Protestants ...
If he didn't understand that he was to be prudent, he peobably should not serve as a commissioner...
Indeed... It's also nice to see the directly-elected European Parliament standing up for itself against the appointed Commission- hopefully this assertion of independence will start a trend towards a more accountable Europe.
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