Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Biotech / Medical : Monsanto Co. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (2281)	7/14/1999 1:57:00 AM
From: Dan Spillane	Respond to of 2539

BBC/UK July 13, 1999 New threat to Euro Commission Tuesday Published at 16:24 GMT 17:24 UK By Political Correspondent Nick Assinder The European Commission could be pitched into a fresh crisis just four months after its 19 members were forced to resign over allegations of fraud and mismanagement. Members of the Conservative-dominated European Parliament are furious that 10 of the newly-appointed commissioners are from the political left, with just six coming from the right. They are also angry that four of the previous commissioners who were made to quit over the fraud scandal - including Britain's Neil Kinnock - have been reappointed, despite their demand that all should be replaced. Mr Kinnock has even been promoted to vice-president in charge of cleaning up the institution. That has raised the prospect of the Strasbourg-based parliament flexing its new-found muscles and demanding changes. The President of the Commission, Italian Romano Prodi, has been walking a tightrope in his efforts to find a balanced team. Balancing act It is normally accepted that the bigger countries, which can name two commissioners, select one from each side of the political spectrum. In Britain, for example, Tony Blair appointed Mr Kinnock and former Tory Chairman Chris Patten. Neil Kinnock: Widely respected But Mr Prodi faced blunt obstinacy from some countries, most notably Germany whose Social Democrat Chancellor Gerhard Schröder insisted on appointing two left-wingers. That ensured that the new commission had an in-built left-wing bias. But the entire commission has to be approved by the European Parliament which, since last months election, is controlled by Conservatives. Members of the European Parliament do not have the power to veto individual commissioners and can only reject the entire 19-strong team. And there are growing signs that some are ready to do exactly that. The parliament will start cross-examining all the new commissioners in the summer and will decide whether to accept the new team in the autumn. One senior source said: "Prodi did his best and had a row with Schröder over his appointees, but at the end of the day he has to accept the national appointments. "MEPs don't like it one little bit so there could be trouble ahead when it comes to the ratification of the commission." Negative image The MEPs are equally angered by the decision to re-appoint four of the old commissioners - Mr Kinnock, Italy's Mario Monti, Finland's Erkki Liikanen and Austria's Franz Fischler - in the face of their insistence that only a brand new team could rid the commission of its negative image. None of the four were tainted by the fraud allegations and Mr Kinnock, in particular, is deemed to have done a good job in his previous transport portfolio. But what upsets the MEPs is the idea that they are, once again, being ignored. There is a reluctance amongst MEPs to further damage the European movement by throwing out a second commission, which would spark an unprecedented crisis. But there are genuine fears that the current situation, with a left-dominated commission facing a Conservative-controlled Parliament, could lead to serious clashes between the two bodies, which would also damage the EU's image. news.bbc.co.uk