Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats
The Socialists and Democrats group in the European Parliament today claimed a victory on blocking the fast-track reappointment of Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso at a parliamentary session later this month.
Group leader Martin Schulz welcomed an announcement by his Liberal counterpart Guy Verhofstadt indicating support for the S&D group’s opposition to a vote at this month’s European Parliament session in Strasbourg.
Said Mr Schulz: "EU ministers, the Parliament’s right wing and Mr Barroso himself made a serious misjudgement when they assumed that a vote could be rushed through this month.
"The Parliament is not a rubber stamp. The Socialists and Democrats objected from the outset to the unseemly haste with which the Barroso decision was being pushed. The Right’s post-election euphoria was misplaced for it is clear from this victory that they cannot take decisions alone in this Parliament. They need support from us and from other pro-European forces."
Mr Schulz gave two reasons for rejecting an early Barroso vote: concerns about the treaty basis for taking a decision; and the difficulty of holding a serious parliamentary approval procedure and vote during the Parliament’s post-election constitutive session.
Tony Robinson
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Associated media
S&D Group claim victory as fast-track Barroso decision is blocked. The Socialists and Democrats group in the European Parliament today claimed a victory on blocking the fast-track reappointment of Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso at a parliamentary session later this month.
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