27/10/2004 11:58:22 am
Restart Barroso. Hours before the vote in the European Paliament on the European Commission, President-Designate José Manuel Barroso withdrew his proposal. Obviously, he considered the risk of having a "no" majority to be too big, despite weeks of negotiations, compromises and changed propsals following the questioning of the proposed Italian Commissioner Rosso Buttiglione. Now, the Prodi Commission will continue until mid-November when Barroso will present a new proposal. One important sign from these events is that the checks and balances of the EU system actually work. Another is the issue itself, where many European Parliamentarians seem unable to draw a line between private life and politics - typically mostly the socialists. I don′t agree with Buttiglione′s reactionary views in the private sphere more than they do, but that doesn′t mean that he is unfit as a Commissioner. It must be possible for people who have conservative Catholic views in private life to hold leading European positions. Just as it must be for Muslims in the future when Turkey and Bosnia are members.


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