S&D

The former Group of the Party of European Socialists, known to all as PES, has decided to shorten its new far too long title (mentioned already on this blog) – The Progressive Alliance of Socilaists and Democrats in the European Parliament - to S&D.  Apparently S&D was chosen as the perceived alternative “SAD” which was though to be,  well, too sad.  Help! I have to say I’m not at all happy with S&D.   Maybe it works in other languages, but in English it has connotations which are the very opposite of sad.

From one sad piece of news to another less than happy situation.  Jose Manuel Barosso, the outgoing centre-right President of the European Commission who comes from Portugal is being nominated by the European Council to serve another term as Commission President.  I’m not at all sure of this tendency to do two terms when one used to be enough.  First Martin Sculz of S&D and now Mr Barosso.  To make matters worse, there is a move to have Barosso confirmed in the post on 15 July, not really long enough to do anything other than rubber stamp the appointment.  What is more, all this is being mooted in spite of the requirement that the Council of Ministers should consult MEPs prior to making a nomination for Commission President, something which certainly hasn’t happened this time.

The Socialist Group, now comparitively smaller against the EPP than it was in the last Parliament, discussed this issue this afternoon.  These are the salient facts: only Barosso has been nominated; the right control both the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers; there is no real unity among the left leaning groups in the European Parliament.  In my humble opinion this is not a good basis from which to challenge Barosso’s nomination.  Nonetheless the S&D talked about doing just that.  Apparently the Council has left the detail to the incoming Swedish presidency and there are negotiations next week.  The only thing I can see realistically coming out of that is the 15 July confirmation date gets put back, probably ro September.  In the absence of any alternative candidate it’s difficult to see anything else emerging, despite the wealth of rhetoric emanating from the S&D Group today.

There are two things in particular about this saga which depress me.  The first is that the whole thing is a right royal stitch up.  When will the powers that be in the EU learn that it doesn’t go down at all well when important appointments are made behind closed doors, in what we used to call smoke filled rooms?  Whatever happened to our latest buzz word, transparency?  It’s the kind of behaviour seen in the Barosso affair which gives goes a long way to giving the European Union its bad name.

Secondly, the President of the S&D Group, Martin Schulz, told us that there had been discussion as to whether the appointment of the new Commission President should be done under the existing Treaty of Nice or the not yet ratified Lisbon Treaty.  Any organisation which even thinks it is possible to make one of its most important decisions under the powers provided in a Treaty which has not yet been agreed, indeed was actually thrown out in a referendun in one member state, really should to take a long, hard look at itself.  The EU, in many ways a beacon of international democracy, is in danger of becoming complacent, out of touch and undermining its democratic legitimacy.  I don’t want that to happen and neither do most of my Socialist and Democrat colleagues.