EU chair Swedish Minister to EuroFora on Barroso : Not affected by Lisbon Treaty +Czech 2010 delay

Barroso's re-election under Nice Treaty should not be affected by the ratification of Lisbon Treaty, which may even be delayed by Czechs until June 2010, said Swedish Minister Cecilia Malmstrom, EU Chairwoman-in-office, replying to "EuroFora"'s and other Journalists' questions et EU Parliament in Strasbourg, immediately after EU Commission President's controversial but clear vote. (See specific "EuroFora"'s publication).

But a risky scenario is that, "even if Irish vote "Yes" on Lisbon Treaty, Czech delays to ratify may push for an EU Commission on "Nice" Treaty (without 2nd vote on Barroso), until UK holds a referendum against the new EU institutions after May 2010 brittish elections... 

Swedish EU Presidency (7-12/2009), which notoriously supported Barroso from the start, believes that there shouldn't be any need to re-vote anew, after the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, on the new President of EU Commission, in a new institutional landscape : 

- "Barroso already got an absolute majority today", replied to "EuroFora"'s question Cecilia Malmstrom. Moreover, after Czech elections were postponed for November, it seems that some Czech senators plan to anew attack the Lisbon Treaty to the Constitutional Court at Brno. "This might prolonge the ratification process as far as ..June 2010", she speculated.

Malmstrom, speaking to "EuroFora", strongly supported the view that, even if 2007 Lisbon Treaty is ratified, there is no need for a new vote on Barroso, who has just received an EU Parliament's vote under 2000 Nice Treaty procedure, contrary to what some other legal interpretatiions claim :

- "This is not necessary. Absolutely not : This is not provided for by the Treaty, and Mr. Barroso got Lisbon majority. So, the Parliament will have to asess every individual Commissioner, as always, first in a written procedure and afterwards in hearings, and then, it will make a Collective decision : That will include of course Mr. Barroso, but it concerns the whole (EU) Commission. So, there is no need to re-confirm Mr. Barroso's" apointment.

On Barroso, the Swedish EU Minister said that, in her view, "there is nothing which obliges Barroso to be re-elected, after Lisbon Treaty's expected entry into force : I know that EU Parliament (Legal services) has said so, but nobody else asked that". Nothing excludes to elect a President under Nice treaty and the whole Commission under Lisbon treaty. I know that EU Parliament (Legal services) have said so, but we asked other Experts and nobody else said that"., she added.

On the contrary, EU Parliament's former Chairman of the Constitutional committee, German Socialist MEP Jo Leinen, recently stressed in Strasbourg the fact that the conclusion of an EP's Legal Study was that "a new election" of new EU Commission's Presidents should take place, inside a new institutional context, if Lisbon Treaty is ratified and enters into force.

 
- "Mr. Barroso appeared to say that, at any case, he needs Time, because of Pittsburg (Financial) and Copenhagen (Climate summits), and so on, while Lisbon Treaty will take time, and he didn't look to be very much eager" to go fast, observed another Journalist to Malmstrom.

- "It's very good that he's busy", replied the Swedish Minister. "Because people expect from Europe to provide results on Economy, jobs, Climate, etc. All those Institutional issues are, naturally, important, but the most important is that EU works, and this we shall do also with the Commission",

 - "I don't think that this might be discussed over diner, Tomorrow (i.e. Thursday : during Brussels' mini-Summit), because the Swedish EU Presidency has first to make sure that all EU Member Countries agree on the Economic Crisis and Climate proposals, so that we can speak on behalf of all the EU. Of course we shall welcome Mr. Barroso's re-election, but we aren't going to discuss now the new Commission : It's useless", she added.
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 - "The Plan "B" is Nice Treaty !"
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    As for Lisbon Treaty : - "It depends on what happens in Ireland : Even if the Irish vote "No", we need a Commission. If they vote "No", we have to appoint a Nice (Treaty) Commission. Because we need a Commission ", the Swedish Minister added in her reply  to "EuroFora".

    - The "ideal scenario is, if the Irish vote "Yes", and all others ratify, then, on early October to have a Dialogue with Member States in view of a decision on the whole ("Lisbon") package in October, considering that on 29 and 30 October we have a Heads of State and Government Summit : I.e. on who will be EU Council's Secretary General, its permanent President, the (Foreign affairs) EU Representative, and on the List of Commissioners, which will have to be afterwards endorsed by the (EU) Parliament", she said.

    - "If the Irish vote "NO", then we shall now that there will be no Lisbon Treaty. So, the (Swedish) Prime Minister will immediately consult all Member States in order to see how we can appoint a Commission under Nice Treaty". Because "there is no Plan "B" : the Plan  "B" is Nice (Treaty) !"

    Questioned by Journalits if she's "worried by the situation in Czech Republic", Malmstrom replied that "even if it's not yet clear, I think that the Elections will, now, be held on June" 2010, instead of November 2009, contrary to what was initially expected.

But "I don't think that this might influence the problem they have with the (Czech) President (Vaclav Havel), who would not yet ratify, and with the process that some Senators try to do in order to send all Lisbon Treaty to the Constitutional Court" at Brno. "And, for that, there is no Time Deadline in the Czech Constitution.  So, we don't know where all that will end"..

- "If they drag heir feet, and we don't know any date, f.ex. at the end of 2009, or at the beginning of 2010, if we don't have a Date, then, we (EU) should decide, at some point, that we need a Commission, and, therefore, we shall appoint a Commission under Nice Treaty : Even if the Irish may have, meanwhile, voted "Yes"" to Lisbon Treaty, she observed.

- "But other Capitals say that, if we don't have Lisbon (Treaty), then it's better to reduce Commission's size  for one third (-33%), in order to be efficient. So it's not obvious at all".

- "A possible scenario", then, is to eventually nominate for EU's Foreign Policy Representative someone from the countries who will not have an EU Commissioner", Malmstrom replied to another Journalists' question on Belgium's MEP, former PM, Verhofstadt, new Chairman of EU Parliament's Liberal Group : An initially stubborn opponent of Barroso, who later made an U-turn accepting his re-election.


    Meanwhile, questioned by Journalists in Strasbourg if he was "worried by the latest turn taken by Polls in the forthcoming Irish Referendum on EU Treaty, Barroso did not deny that there is "a Risk" :  - "It's for the Irish citzens to decide.. I think that Lisbon Treaty is good for Ireland and Europe. Now, if there are risks, and risks might be, I like to take risks for something we believe in". "I think that (the Irish Referendum) will be won, but, at any case we are ready to act., added Barroso.

    As for President of EU Parliament's Socialist Group, German MEP Martin Schultz's criticism that his re-election would have a "weak" base because he was voted also by "Anti-Europeans" as the Brittish Conservatives, Czechs, Polish and other EU-critical MEPs' new Group, Barroso replied that - "My program is a very ambitious European program. I don't choose those who vote for me. F.ex. some of them are against the Lisbon Treaty, but I am for the Lisbon Treaty".

    In fact, few important common points are known between Barroso and Brittish MEPs, except for Turkey's controversial EU bid, (who notoriously has to pass a crucial EU check on its commitments on December 2009), free Trade, relations to America, etc.