New Commissioner Faces First Test

The European Union's controversial new competition commissioner will have to stand aside from three investigations immediately after taking office because of conflicts of interest, an official said Thursday.

Under guidelines agreed with incoming European Commission President Jose Barroso, the Netherlands' Neelie Kroes will not be able to oversee the three cases when the new EU executive takes office next week.

"The rough estimation is that out of the 1,000 or so cases which are currently being looked at (by the EU competition office), there are three which would apparently give rise to the transfer of responsibility according to the criteria agreed with President Barroso," a commission spokesman said.

But the spokesman, Jonathan Todd, said he could not give further details on the cases, save to say that one involves allegations of a cartel in the bitumen industry.

Conflicts of interest

Under the guidelines agreed with Barroso, cases that Kroes cannot handle herself because of a perceived conflict of interest will be transferred to another commissioner.

Barroso's 24-strong commission team won approval from the European Parliament Thursday after a three-week delay caused by fierce objections to his first-choice line-up. It is expected to take office on Monday.

Despite giving their approval to the team as a whole, several lawmakers said they remained concerned about Kroes' extensive past business links; she has sat on the boards of more than 30 Dutch and foreign companies.

Those links, which Kroes has now entirely abandoned, have caused disquiet over whether she can be completely unbiased as the commissioner in charge of policing anti-trust policy and fair corporate play in the EU.

Two of the companies that Kroes has been involved with in the past -- British mobile telephone operator MMO2 and Dutch shipping company Royal PandO Nedlloyd -- form part of her in-tray of looming investigations.

MMO2 is under investigation by Brussels over cross-border "roaming" tariffs charged by mobile operators, while Royal PandO is one of a number of shipping lines whose EU-permitted cartel is now under review.

Parliament agrees on commission

Earlier in the day, European Union lawmakers approved the bloc's new executive commission, ending three weeks of institutional limbo sparked by protests over comments on gays and women by an Italian nominee.

The European Parliament voted by 449 votes in favor to 149 against, with 82 abstaining in the ballot, which was originally due at the end of October but was delayed by the row.

Incoming commission chief Jose Barroso (photo), who was originally supposed to have taken office on Nov. 1, is now expected to start work in Brussels on Monday, officials said.

Dissent over Hungarian candidate

After Italy's Rocco Buttiglione withdrew his nomination as the EU's justice commissioner in October, the main obstacle preventing the European Parliament from approving Barroso's new team appeared to have been removed. But MEPs were still unhappy with a couple of other nominations including that of Hungarian Laszlo Kovacs.

Although Hungary's 65-year-old former foreign minister has managed to avoid the fate of Buttiglione, his ascent to the heady ranks of EU commissioner has been far from smooth. Kovacs was originally supposed to take up the post of energy commissioner but was deemed to be unfit for the post following his hearing at the European Parliament in October.

Second shot

In his defense Kovacs (photo) argued that he had too little time to prepare for the interview procedure as he was dealing with a domestic political crisis. And although there was a groundswell of feeling among political groups in Hungary that his candidature should be withdrawn altogether, the government stood behind its selection, and he was offered an alternative portfolio, that of customs and taxation. Tuesday was his second day of reckoning, and given his first failure, the spotlight bore down on him with added glare.

"You said that your energy hearings were disappointing, to say the least, because you said you did not have the previous 24 hours to swot up on subject matter," Scottish MEP John Purvis said. "I would like to ask you how much time you have spent swotting up on the tax issue."

Kovacs argued that a commissioner need not know all the details of his department and seemed to win the approval of the parliamentarians by saying he was in favor of fiscal competition and was opposed to a French proposal for cutting aid to new EU member states who attract investors with lower corporate tax rates.

He also defended his former Communist party membership, arguing he had always been in favor of a more open policy towards the West.

"In my political background, there is nothing to hide and nothing to be ashamed of," Kovacs told the parliament.

Well-received changes

Latvian Andris Piebalgs (photo), who will replace euroskeptic Ingrida Udre, had no trouble convincing MEPs that he was capable of tackling the energy portfolio. And Italy's Franco Frattini won the support of MEPs as the new commissioner for justice, freedom and security after assuring the panel he would promote tolerance and uphold the rights of minorities.

Getting this far with the new commission has not been smooth sailing, and though after the hearings on Wednesday some MEPs said they still had some concerns about Kovacs, they were not enough to unseat the 25-member team.