Barroso's Blues

When Rocco Buttiglione shared his views on homosexuals and women with a committee of the European Parliament earlier this month, he sparked a potential showdown between the Parliament and the European Commission. Outraged M.E.P.s demanded that incoming Commission President José Manuel Durão Barroso either replace Buttiglione or shuffle him out of the Justice, Freedom and Security post. Barroso declined, instead promising to spread responsibility for antidiscrimination enforcement among several new Commissioners.

Not good enough, say Buttiglione's opponents. The Parliament can't turn down individual Commissioners, but it can reject the Commission as a whole. And that's exactly what some groups are threatening this week. "The Socialist Group cannot vote in favor of this Commission," says its leader, Martin Schulz of Germany. "We do not have confidence in it." Only the center-right European People's Party supports Barroso's team. Group chairman Hans-Gert Pöttering warned that rejecting the Commission "would trigger a crisis with serious political consequences." But Pöttering's support might not be enough to swing the vote. "If Barroso doesn't make any further concessions, it will be very close," says one parliamentary official.

The dispute holds dangers for both sides. If Barroso gives in, "the Parliament will have set an important precedent," denting the President's authority, says Alasdair Murray of the London-based Centre for European Reform. But tossing out the entire Commission could backfire, too. Murray believes Parliament would have to prove that the group was so bad it should be thrown out before it's done anything. "I'm not sure they can do that," he says. "Both sides could end up playing a game of brinkmanship that doesn't serve the E.U.'s interests."