Straight Into The Fire

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Incoming European Commission President José Manuel Durão Barroso faces an uproar in the European Parliament that could cost him his job before it's even slated to begin on Nov. 1. Barroso's problem starts with his designated Commissioner for Justice, Security and Freedom, Rocco Buttiglione, formerly Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi's Minister for European Affairs. When he testified on Oct. 5 before the Parliament, Buttiglione mentioned that he considers homosexuality a sin and holds the "traditional" view that marriage is meant to give a "woman the right to have children and the protection of a man." These and other comments estranged a majority of the parliamentary committee, which voted first that he was ill-suited for that post, and then for the Commission altogether.

In fact, Parliament can only approve or reject the Commission as a whole. But both the Socialists and Liberals are demanding that Barroso recast Buttiglione's role. "Barroso has to draw the consequences, and if he doesn't we'll vote against this Commission," says Martin Schulz, leader of the Socialist Group, the body's second largest. Will it come to that? This week Barroso meets with party presidents at the European Parliament to discuss the impasse. No solution is perfect, but if Barroso tries to stand firm he risks a painful lesson in parliamentary wrath.