THE European Union was in crisis yesterday after the European Parliament forced the incoming President of the European commission to withdraw his team of commissioners days before they were due to take office.

José Manuel Durão Barroso backed down at the eleventh hour when it became clear that the Parliament would vote to reject a commission that included Rocco Buttiglioni, a conservative Roman Catholic from Italy, who had told Parliament that he thought that homosexuality was a sin.

The Strasbourg Parliament’s action left a power vacuum at the heart of the EU just as European heads of government head to Rome for the formal signing ceremony tomorrow of the new European constitution. That summit is now being turned into emergency talks to resolve the impasse.

Romano Prodi, the departing Commission President, who has been longing to return to the political fray in Italy, will have to stay on in a caretaker role, along with the rest of his team, including Chris Patten and Neil Kinnock.

It is the first time in the EU’s half-century history that an incoming European commission has been vetoed before even starting its job and the first time that an outgoing Commission has been forced to stay beyond its five-year term.

Senhor Barroso’s climbdown was the result of an unprecedented show of strength by the Parliament, which for the first time exerted its authority over both the Commission and national governments. Left-wing and liberal MEPs had become increasingly angry about Senhor Barroso’s refusal to back down over Signor Buttiglioni and his politically incorrect opinions.

Under EU rules, the European Parliament can reject only the entire commission, not individual commissioners. Tony Blair, Gerhard Schröder and other EU leaders had directly lobbied their own MEPs, but failed to avert the Strasbourg rebellion.

Senhor Barroso realised that he faced defeat after the Socialist group, the second-largest in the Parliament, decided unanimously on Tuesday night to vote “no”. He accepted his humiliating defeat yesterday morning, telling the Parliament that he would withdraw his commission until he could find a solution.

To cheering and stamping from the assembled parliamentarians, he announced: “I have come to the conclusion that if a vote is taken, then the outcome will not be positive for European institutions or the EU project. In these circumstances, I have decided not to submit my new commission for your approval today.”

Peter Mandelson, who will not now take up his post as European trade commissioner on Monday, said: “Mr Barroso has done the right thing. It’s better to have the right commission with the best cross-party support than to have one pushed through when feelings are running so high on both sides.” Jonathan Evans, leader of Conservative MEPs, said: “Mr Barroso should have stood firm in the face of this left-wing witch-hunt. By giving in to the Socialists, we are now stuck with Neil Kinnock and the rest of the failed Prodi Commission.”

Mr Kinnock, anxious to end his ten-year stint at the Commission, said: “I don’t see any smiling faces at the prospect of an additional month at least.”

Few expect that the crisis — the biggest since the disgraced Santer commission was forced to resign en masse in 1999 — will be resolved quickly.

European heads of government, Senhor Barroso and the European Parliament will now have to start a fresh round of negotiations, which could result in wide-ranging changes to the incoming commission, and are expected to last at least a month. Senhor Barroso spoke by telephone to Jens-Peter Balkenende, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU, to seek his support for the withdrawal of his incoming Commission.

National governments must decide what changes to make to the new commission, with at least a couple of European governments expected to change their commissioners. Although MEPs objected primarily to Signor Buttiglione being in charge of civil liberties, and had mainly demanded a reshuffle, many thought that it was now inconceivable that he could remain a member of Senhor Barroso’s commission.

EU leaders will negotiate the changes to the incoming commission in Rome tomorrow, and then at a pre-arranged summit next Friday in Brussels. Any new commissioners will have to have hearings by the European Parliament, which will then have to vote its approval of the revised Barroso Commission.

Mr Blair’s spokesman played down the sense of crisis, saying: “What’s happened is the perfectly proper scrutiny by the European Parliament.”

Graham Watson, the leader of the Liberal group of MEP’s, said: “Today, Euroscepticism loses because the voice of democracy in Europe has risen by an octave, and made itself heard.”

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