The EU needs strong leadership but instead it has José Manuel Barroso, writes Denis Staunton, European Correspondent
A year after EU leaders chose him to head the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso arrives in Dublin today a diminished figure who has failed to live up to his promise of strong leadership for Europe.
Distrusted by MEPs and all but ignored by EU leaders, Mr Barroso has lost the confidence of many of his colleagues in the commission.
Beyond Brussels, his impact on public opinion has been negligible, and insofar as he has made an impression at all on European citizens, it has been negative.
Indeed, as the EU struggles to find a path out of the biggest political crisis in its history, the commission president increasingly looks like part of the problem rather than the solution.
It was all so different at the start, when Mr Barroso impressed the European media with his engaging manner, modest sense of humour and fluency in four languages.
The European Parliament gave him a standing ovation when they voted overwhelmingly in favour of his nomination last July.
"I see myself as a political leader who can build bridges. I will reach out and work with those who supported me, but also with those who did not vote for me. We need a coalition of the willing to advance the European project."
Mr Barroso put his commission team together in record time, announcing the portfolios during the August lull and avoiding the unseemly horse-trading with EU capitals that usually accompanies such appointments.
Most of Mr Barroso's appointments were welcomed, although there was some disquiet over the appointment of Neelie Kroes, a former Dutch transport minister with extensive business links, to competition.
The appointment of Rocco Buttiglione, an Italian conservative, to the justice and home affairs portfolio created a bigger problem, precipitating a standoff with MEPs that almost sank the entire commission.
In his disastrous handling of the Buttiglione affair, Mr Barroso demonstrated many of the deficiencies in political judgment that have characterised his tenure in Brussels.
The European Parliament's civil liberties committee voted against Mr Buttiglione's nomination after he made controversial remarks about homosexuality, women and marriage.
But Mr Barroso's clumsy response turned what began as a dispute over the Italian's suitability for a sensitive post into a struggle for influence between the commission and the European Parliament.
A small concession from Mr Barroso at the beginning would have satisfied MEPs and defused the row, but the commission president antagonised the parliament at each turn until he had to withdraw his entire team from consideration by MEPs rather than face certain rejection.
When the commission finally took office on November 22nd, almost a month later than planned, Mr Buttiglione was gone but doubts about Mr Barroso persisted.
The president's support for the US-led invasion of Iraq and his closeness to Tony Blair meant that he would always be considered a little suspect in Paris and Berlin.
French doubts turned to outright hostility this year when Mr Barroso gave a speech to a pro-market think-tank that appeared to accuse the older member states of trying to shut out the new member states from economic opportunity.
He speech was seen as a direct attack on French president Jacques Chirac, who had just agreed an uneasy truce with the commission over the future of the Services Directive, a plan to liberalise the European market in services that is deeply unpopular in France.
Mr Barroso stayed away from the French referendum campaign, not least because his involvement would have been unwelcome - at least on the Yes side.
When France and the Netherlands voted No, Mr Barroso urged EU leaders to wait until this month's EU summit before making statements on what to do about the constitution.
The fact that so few heeded his prudent advice is a measure of how low his authority is at the highest level in the EU.
EU leaders agreed at the summit to suspend the November 2006 deadline for ratifying the constitution while Europe engages in a period of reflection and debate. As the guardian of the common European interest, the commission ought to play a leading role in such a debate, but few in Brussels expect Mr Barroso to emerge with any fresh ideas about the future of the EU.
In the current climate of political anxiety, the commission will face great difficulties as it proposes new policy initiatives and enforces rules already agreed by the 25 states.
Now, more than ever, Europe needs the strong, even-handed leadership Mr Barroso promised last year when he was appointed. The leaders of the EU's four biggest states - Germany, France, Britain and Italy - could be out of office within months, and none of their likely successors inspire much confidence at a European level.
Which makes it all the more unfortunate that Mr Barroso has squandered so quickly the political capital he brought with him into the Berlaymont last year.