How are they going to get out of this one? Looks like the European Parliament are trying to veto the Italian Commissioner’s appointment after all. If they can’t get Italy (i.e. Buttiglione’s mate Berlusconi) to withdraw the nomination and choose someone in his place, ALL the Commissioners may have to be vetoed.

This is the first time ever that MEPs have voted to oppose the nomination of a commissioner. There is no precedent for this situation, so there seems to be a lot of confusion in Brussels at the moment. No change there then…

With a few weeks to go until the new Commission is set to take over, is there enough time to get the Italians to withdraw their candidate, find a new one, and get the European parliament’s agreement?

“Liberal MEP Chris Davies is urging colleagues to set a precedent upholding parliamentary scrutiny of the EU executive.

“‘We have to insist that the views of the elected parliament take precedence over those of the appointed commission.

“‘The ball is in Barroso’s court. We don’t want blood but we do require that our position is respected,’ he said.

“‘If he wants to put his head in the sand and suppose that he can ignore the parliament he should not be surprised if MEPs vote down the entire commission.'”

Barroso’s not got an easy job on his hands…