EU: Yesterday's decision to withdraw the new European Commission from consideration by the European Parliament followed 24 hours of hectic negotiations between the incoming Commission President, Mr José Manuel Barroso, national governments and MEPs, writes Denis Staunton in Strasbourg
Mr Barroso came to Strasbourg on Tuesday morning with the promise of a package of measures to combat discrimination against minorities, which he hoped would dispel anxiety about the appointment of Mr Rocco Buttiglione as Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner.
By lunchtime on Tuesday, it was clear that Mr Barroso had failed to impress many of the Socialists and Liberals he needed to win over if he was to secure a majority for his Commission. The former Portuguese prime minister's hectoring performance in the chamber, when he accused his opponents of joining forces with extremists, appeared to have backfired.
According to Italian press reports, Mr Barroso spoke to Italy's prime minister, Mr Silvio Berlusconi, early in the afternoon. The reports, which have been echoed by usually reliable EU sources, said Mr Berlusconi offered to withdraw Mr Buttiglione as Italy's nominee, opening the way for a minor reshuffle that would have satisfied most Liberals and many Socialists.
According to this version of events, the leader of the centre-right European People's Party (EPP) told Mr Barroso that his group, which had been the new Commission President's strongest supporters, would vote against the Commission if Mr Buttiglione was the only Commissioner to be reshuffled.
EPP sources insisted last night that Mr Berlusconi had, in fact, told the centre-right group that he was standing by Mr Buttiglione and urged them to stand firm.
In any case, by the time Mr Barroso met the 88 Liberals, who could have determined the outcome of a vote on the Commission, on Tuesday evening, he felt unable to offer a reshuffle involving Mr Buttiglione. After the meeting, 50 Liberals said they would vote against the Commission, with 23 promising to vote against and five abstaining.
At a meeting of the Socialist group, attended by more than 180 out of 200 MEPs, everyone agreed to reject the new Commission.
Mr Barroso knew then that if he presented his unchanged Commission to a vote by MEPs yesterday morning, it was certain to be rejected. Instead, he declined to propose a Commission at all, promising to come up with a new team as soon as possible.
Mr Barroso, who won the backing of Spanish, British and some German Socialists in his own European Parliament vote in July, may have expected national governments to exert more influence on their MEPs. Insofar as any pressure was put on MEPs, however, it was entirely ineffective - or even counter-productive.
At the start of a five-year mandate, MEPs felt confident enough to defy their political mother-ships in the national capitals and were angered by what they viewed as Mr Barroso's high-handed approach to the European Parliament.
In Strasbourg yesterday, Mr Barroso's political competence was dismissed by one MEP as "zero or less". Some MEPs were also questioning the judgement of Mr Hans-Gerd Poettering, the EPP leader who refused to compromise on Mr Buttiglione and of the Liberal leader, Mr Graham Watson, who tried to persuade his group to support the new Commission.
In parliamentary terms, the biggest winners yesterday were the Socialists and the Greens, who proved that, despite being the largest group, the EPP cannot always command a majority on important issues.
Mr Barroso has won himself a second chance to put together a Commission that can persuade MEPs of their competence and suitability for their portfolios. Many in Strasbourg wished him well yesterday but few felt certain that his political instincts would carry him to success.
As one experienced participant in the institutional life of the EU put it: "The first cock-up does not rule out the possibility of a second."