Main focus of Friday, June 19, 2009

EU summit endorses Barroso

At a summit meeting in Brussels the heads of state and government of the 27 EU members have spoken out in favour of a second term in office for incumbent Commission President José Manuel Barroso. However his re-election requires the approval of the European Parliament where the Social Democrats and the Greens want to prevent him from serving a second term. 

Le Soir - Belgium

The daily Le Soir analyses the discussion about the post of President of the European Commission. "The assessment of José Manuel Barroso's performance ... is quite rightly a controversial subject. The man has charm, but is that a sufficient reason for him to stay in office until 2014? … 'José Manuel Barroso means stability', people say. No matter what the basis. This is an argument of communication strategy aimed at the masses frightened by the crisis. And above all there is no other candidate. Wonderful! … Do Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy really support José Manuel Barroso? Do they have an ulterior motive for doing so? … Perhaps [he] won't serve the intended purpose. But the office requires more respect on the part of the capital cities." (18/06/2009)

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Jornal de Notícias - Portugal

The daily Jornal de Notícias is full of praise for EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso: "He restored the image of the European Commission following the failures of [former commission president Jacques] Santer and [Romano] Prodi, focused on the most important issues and above all presented strategies. He was one of the first to call attention to the energy crisis and Europe's extreme dependence on the former Eastern Bloc and do something about it. He negotiated a complex EU enlargement, … and initiated new dialogue with the US, Russia, China, Africa and the Middle East. He explained Europe to the incredulous and the sceptical and because he never adopted an authoritarian tone made the Union into a sensible, … familiar construct. His 'economic freedom' could never have been confused with 'neo-liberalism'. He has been able to control the cultural tensions between social democrats and conservatives, socialists and liberals and is now well on the way to becoming Europe's face for another five years." (19/06/2009)

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Der Standard - Austria

Criticism of the renewed nomination of EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso is more than justified, writes the daily Der Standard: "In the last five years the Portuguese politician has not stood out for his brilliant, creative leadership or for his energetic approach to the crisis. He was more a stalwart administrator of guidelines laid out by the heads of state and government than a courageous advocate and renovator working in the interests of the entire community. ... By the looks of things nothing stands in Barroso's way. Now all that has to be worked out by the states, parliamentary groups and parties is what they will get in exchange. If a conservative from a small country heads the EU Commission, the first permanent EU Council president should be a social democrat, possibly from a large country. Tony Blair, for example. The conservative Pole Jerzy Buzek is set to become president of the European Parliament, and a Dane is already Nato Secretary General." (19/06/2009)

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Der Tagesspiegel - Germany

No one can really say what Barroso stands for, the left-liberal daily Der Tagesspiegel writes: "Barroso as a person is characteristic of the state of the European Union as a whole. The larger it becomes, the more difficult it is to overcome the differences between cultures, economic interests and levels of prosperity. Unless the citizens form an awareness that they live in a community of values, history and culture, the unification of Europe is doomed to failure. Blind expansion to encompass further large, self-confident but economically weak states like Turkey would therefore destroy the hitherto unparalleled success of European unification. In the coming five years the success of Barroso and his commissioners will be measured by whether they can manage to avert the threat of the EU self destructing." (19/06/2009)

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