Tag Archives: Anyone But Barroso

Campaign to back Barroso getting dirty

Boxing Gloves - CC / Flickr

Boxing Gloves - CC / Flickr

As an alumnus of the College of Europe in Bruges I periodically get e-mails on the student e-mail lists. This one has recently reached me:

Dear Alumni,

Following  the recent elections for the European Parliament, the nomination of the Commission’s President is now on the European Agenda.

The European Movement (www.europeanmovement.eu) has launched a petition supporting the re-appointment of the President José Manuel Barroso. In this important historical movement, we invite you to visit the petition’s website and to sign it: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/manifesto27

Whatever your feelings are, you are also invited to participate in the debate promoted by the European Movement through the blog www.barroso2.blogspot.com

Best regards,

Fausto Matos

Ana Perdigao

Joao Ribeiro

The problem is that the e-mail is completely false. The European Movement has no view for or against Barroso. I happen to be the webmanager of European Movement and they are not associated with either of those sites. Indeed the blog looks bland and amateurish.

This follows on from the hacking attacks against Anyone But Barroso from Portuguese IP addresses.

So what is the Barroso team up to? Or are supporters of his taking matters into their own hands? Or are people queuing up for jobs in his cabinet or something?

You can alternatively give your opinion on Barroso at eu2009.cz – currently running at 76% against Barroso.

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Anti-Barroso forces becoming more vocal

Barroso Dominoes - J. Worth / CC License - source credits in blog entry

Barroso Dominoes - J. Worth / CC License - source credits in blog entry

It’s pleasing to see that there are finally some high level politicians voicing their critique of José Manuel Barroso with the determination that he should not get a second term of office as President of the European Commission. Anyone But Barroso lives!

First of all the European Greens at their congress this weekend in Brussels took a strong ‘Stop Barroso’ position. They realise they will not have a majority in the EP after the elections, but the comments of Pierre Jonckheer and others are welcome.

Secondly Jean Quatremer reports on comments by eminence sage of EU politics, Jacques Delors, that Barroso should not be granted a second term. His solutions are – rather surprisingly – François Fillon or Alain Juppé (!) His reasoning is that the left will not win the EP elections, so better propose at least someone half decent from the right. There are others who reckon Michel Barnier would be a better bet, but there is a definite trend developing that the future of Barroso to a large extent depends on how things play out in France.

Lastly it looks like the Party of European Socialists is finally getting its act together, at least via the European Parliament if not via Socrates – Zapatero – Brown. PES President Rasmussen has spoken out that the new Commission President should not be chosen rapidly after the EP elections, as the EP should have more time to debate the issue. The implication here is that in the unlikely circumstance that the PSE Group is the largest in the EP after the elections then they could oppose the nomination of Barroso. There’s more in French in an interview with Rasmussen in Le Monde.

Photo credits – all elements of the Photoshop mockup from CC / Flickr images: Dominoes | Flag | Barroso | Rasmussen | Delors | Jonckheer

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Barroso as maoist rebel, and Berlusconi as, erm, Berlusconi

My favourite member of the European Commission has an interesting past…

Hat tip: EUX.tv / Schuman Square

Silvio Berlusconi instead seems to think it’s OK – in public – to look like he’s more than attracted to a traffic warden. Eeeuuuuggghhh. Please, please get rid of that man.

Hat tip: you know who you are after laughing over a beer
[UPDATE - 26.01.2008] A further amusing one from today at Th!nk About It:

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EU – any hope for positive surprises in 2009?

EU Flag - Creative Commons / Flickr

EU Flag - Creative Commons / Flickr

Every fifth year is decisively different for the EU: election years. And this year is one of those years. For the 40% of the population that will go to vote it’s a relatively minor event, but in Brussels itself election years are very different. MEPs try to cram a few extra reports into the few sessions in spring, the European Commission winds down, and then everyone plays a game of chicken behind closed doors to determine how the juicy jobs are going to be allocated. At best it all looks opaque, at worst you get a mess similar to that caused by Rocco Buttiglione.

The EP election debate, in as far as there will be one about EU matters, will be dominated by a debate to what extent the EU should influence our lives. Eurosceptics will bemoan the ‘Brussels Bureaucrats’ taking away national power, and the governments in power won’t contradict this to say that it was their permanent representations that gave the go ahead to everything anyway. In the meantime the mainstream parties will put forward safe candidates that are not going to do anything radical on the election campaign trail.

Then there’s the issue of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The Czech Republic took on this task yesterday, meaning the scary combination of Topolanek’s weak government, and Vaclav Klaus, will be responsible for giving the EU direction. The Presidency website looks like something made out of lego and I’m worried what will happen if the EU hits a crises with these guys in the chair.

Lastly the new Commission: we’ll almost certainly get flaccid Barroso back for a second term (Anyone But Barroso if you don’t want it!), the only Commissioner who is remotely down to earth and communicative will step down, and most of the member states will either nominate relative unknowns or people that they have outlived their useful lives in national politics.

So what hope for anything positive in 2009? I’m not hopeful… And I haven’t even mentioned Ireland and the Treaty of Lisbon.

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