BARROSO IS BACK - with a plan for the next five years

Click here to read Euractiv's analysis of José Manuel Barroso's five-year plan published on September 3.

Tomorrow’s European Commission

As the President Barroso nears the end of its term, the perception in some national capitals is that the Commission is now a more "politically weakened institution".

A closer look at the institutional triangle would be enough to reach this conclusion: the European Parliament today is a more powerful institution than the “talking shop” it used to be in the early 50s. The Parliament’s role has been upgraded to that of a co-legislator with the Council in a wide range of policy areas, for the sake of EU citizens' interests and for the sake of Europe's democracy. The Council of the European Union has also changed to include 12 new Member States whose interests need to be accommodated.

In today’s Europe, however, my perception of the European Commission would be slightly different. When I look back in time, since President Hallstein and during its 51 years of existence, l can only recall of a period when the European Commission was (and was allowed to be) bolder, if you like vis-à-vis the Member States. It was during 1985-95 term of Jacques Delors. Back then, however, there were 15 Member States around the table. To use the cartoonist language, there were 17 Commissioners who would probably order coffee and, perhaps, some tea? The French-German axis was fine-tuned, which doesn’t happen for a while; and most importantly: it was in every Member State’s interest to build a common market. These were indeed inspiring days for the life of the European Commission, but they were just about one-fifth of the Commission’s lifetime.

When I look at today’s European Commission, I don’t see a weaker institution, but rather one that is changing. And one that needs to change because we are no longer living in the 90s. Since then, the world has completely changed, Eastern Europe has been “back to Europe” again and the Commission is now a more diverse group of 27 Commissioners, which inevitably faces a risk of fragmentation.

During his tenure, President Barroso has managed to forge consensus between the 27 Member States, big and small, while also reinforcing his own role inside the College. This might have changed collegiality and might have paved the way for a new form of 'presidentialisation', as some have put it. However, I do not see this as a negative development for the institutional life of the Commission. Quite the opposite: tomorrow’s European Commission will need greater doses of consensus to be able to deliver on different fronts and to be inclusive of different actors in society.

President Barroso did set the tone for a more open and flexible Commission. A European Commission that wants to reach out to citizens. A lot more needs to be done, of course. But if we want to re-invent Europe every day, as President Obama has recently said, we cannot be bound by our past, otherwise we will never move forward.

My Favourite Cartoon

(click on image to enlarge) Who in Brussels is not familiar with the odd Commissioner that orders his Vodka at the College meeting? When the six Commissioners gathered around the College table in the early 50s, they would all ask for coffee. These days, the twenty-seven Commissioners that make-up the weekly colleage meetings, place their own order, which might not just be the traditional coffee...

This is one of my favourite EU cartoons. Not only because it represents the EU in all its diversity and richness, but also because it captures a very powerful image of the European project that is often neglected: change.