Several constructive lessons have been learned from the political crisis over the new European Commission which was resolved yesterday when the European Parliament finally approved it by a large majority.
It will take up office on Monday, three weeks later than planned, following the decision by the Commission president, Mr José Manuel Barroso, to withdraw his nominees on October 21st to avoid them being voted down.
Mr Barroso has learned the hard way that he must take heed of the Parliament and consult his Commission colleagues if he is to carry them with him politically over the next five years. His unexpectedly early and at first glance politically deft nominations announced in mid-August unravelled when subjected to close parliamentary scrutiny. While several of the nominees were found unsatisfactory, one of them, the Italian Mr Rocco Buttiglione, was judged unacceptable because he confused his private and traditionalist Catholic views on homosexuality, marriage and immigration controls with his public responsibility for the sensitive and growing justice and home affairs portfolio.
Mr Barroso's solitary and high-handed treatment of the issue, readiness to make unprincipled compromises and misjudgment of the dynamics involved used up much of his political capital. He cannot afford to make similar mistakes in future. He and his successors will have a continuing battle over the Commission's accountability to the Parliament now that it has co-decision powers on most legislation. Demands that individual commissioners should be held fully responsible for their portfolios rather than being subject to collective rejection of the entire Commission are bound to grow.
Governments of the member-states have been sharply reminded of the Parliament's growing power and their reduced ability to browbeat MEPs elected on a transnational franchise. The whole exercise of scrutinising the Commission nominees, rejecting and then accepting it has strengthened the EU's democratic fabric. The hearings identifying these weaknesses were widely reported in media and the parliamentary confrontation caught the public imagination. They have helped create a closer link between political argument in the European Parliament and citizens in the member-states. That is a good thing for democratic politics as parliaments and electorates prepare to vote on the new EU constitutional treaty over the next 18 months. Mr Barroso says his principal objectives are to boost economic growth and protect the EU's social model. They will be easier to achieve if he can absorb the lessons of this intense political baptism.