Ashton first in line as grilling of new Commission begins
Posted on January 11, 2010 at 04:01 PM
The latest prospective European Commission is being grilled by the parliament all this week, and the interrogation kicked off today with its most controversial and high-profile new addition, Catherine Ashton.
The Commission itself is one of the most debated in decades, not least because of its new Vice-President, who will also hold the position of High Representative for Foreign Affairs of the EU. Due to Ireland's much publicised on-off love affair with the Lisbon Treaty, most people are aware that the Commission was originally due to be reduced from 27 to 18 Commissioners, with each country serving two out of every three terms. However thanks to our unique ratification process, all 27 positions from the previous Commission will now be retained.
Once Ireland passed the Treaty in October, the spotlight immediately turned to who would fill the two powerful new positions which the Treaty created. While the New President of the European Council will report only to the Council, Baroness Ashton will become Vice-President of the Commission as well as being the Council's High Representative for Foreign Affairs. The early word in Brussels is that Ashton intends to take an office in Commission buildings rather than in the Council, which is a coup for many Commission staff who were afraid that she would devote all of her time to Council work. Ashton has been criticised in many circles since her appointment, particularly by Conservatives in her home country, but from my experience of seeing her work in Brussels I think she certainly deserves the benefit of the doubt. As Leader of the House of Lords she managed to successfully manoevre the Lisbon Treaty through the British Parliament, which we can only fully appreciate in hindsight as an enormous accomplishment. While she was a low-key replacement for Peter Mandleson as Commissioner for Trade in the previous Commission, she was effective and impressive, as she needed to be to gain approval from colleagues all over Europe to secure her current post.
At her Parliament hearing today, which I attended, Ashton gave a composed performance, and the early indications are that her nomination should pose few problems.
As for the other Commissioners, there are a few lingering issues, not least with the Bulgarian nominee, Rumiana Jeleva, who is seen by many as a weak link due to her business interests. Having forced a reshuffle of the last Commission due to the Italian nominees views on homosexuality, don't be surprised if the Parliament once again uses its democratic mandate to express concerns over the coming week.
I will be posting blogs on this and any other issues that arise over the course of the week.
