Spiegel Online International

by David Gordon Smith

Bulgaria's nominee for the new European Commission has withdrawn her candidacy after members of the European Parliament raised doubts about her suitability for her post. German commentators are divided over whether the result is a victory for European democracy or just party political mudslinging.

The installation of the new European Commission looks set to be delayed after the Bulgarian nominee Rumiana Jeleva withdrew her candidacy Tuesday.

Members of the European Parliament had expressed doubts about Jeleva's suitability for her proposed post as the European Union's commissioner for humanitarian aid after she performed poorly during her recent confirmation hearing in front of the parliament. There were also accusations that she had failed to properly disclose a financial interest in a Bulgarian consultancy firm - a charge Jeleva rejected.

Jeleva, who announced her decision in a letter to the Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov, has also stepped down as Bulgarian foreign minister, a position she has held since July 2009. Sofia has now put forward Kristalina Georgieva, vice-president of the World Bank, as the new Bulgarian commissioner candidate.

Jeleva's withdrawal is likely to delay the appointment of the new European Commission - the EU's executive arm - until Feb. 9 or 10, officials told the Associated Press. It was originally planned for Feb. 1. Some observers expressed concerns that the delay could hamper the EU summit on Feb. 11, which will focus on tackling the economic crisis.

The European Parliament has the power to approve or reject en masse the commissioner candidates proposed by the Commission president. It cannot reject individual candidates, however. Each candidate has to face a three-hour hearing in front of the parliament, during which they are questioned to determine if they are qualified for the job.

Generally commentators writing in the Wednesday editions of Germany's main newspapers criticized European Commission President Jose Manual Barroso over his handling of the affair. But they remained divided over whether the development could be seen as a victory for the European Parliament.

The center-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes:

"It would have been a surprise if the European Parliament had not taken advantage of its power and had simply rubber-stamped President Barroso's proposed candidates. Five years ago it used its power - whether rightly or wrongly is an open question - against the Italian candidate Rocco Buttiglione (editor's note: Buttiglione withdrew his candidacy after his remarks on homosexuality and women angered members of the European Parliament). This time its target was the proposed humanitarian aid commissioner Rumiana Jeleva."

"But she made things easy for Barroso and the Parliament by formally withdrawing her application herself and also stepping down as foreign minister. The Bulgarian government has already nominated a new candidate. The inauguration of the new Commission should therefore not be seriously delayed. However the fact that Jeleva was supported by one parliamentary group (the center-right European People's Party), which includes the party she belongs to, but was rejected by three other groups shows that the issue did not revolve merely around her ability or the disclosure of her financial interests. The Parliament wanted to flex its muscles."

The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes:

"Barroso should have been warned -- the voices coming from the European Parliament were loud enough. But he preferred to pretend to be deaf. Had he listened, then he might have understood that the criticism of the Bulgarian Commission candidate Rumiana Jeleva was not based on party politics or on poorly founded allegations about her business interests. The criticism arose primarily out of a concern for Europe. During her confirmation hearing, Jeleva had shown a level of incompetence which not even Brussels - certainly no stranger to mediocrity - could bring itself to tolerate."

"The members of the European Parliament are the single bright spot in this affair. They make sure to put the Commission candidates to a tough test - nobody is simply waved through. Hardly any government in the EU's member states has to go through such a critical appraisal as the European Commission. Anyone who wants to learn something about democracy should take a look at the European Parliament. The assembly, which has long not been taken seriously enough, has gained enormously in stature. Barroso overlooked this fact to his own detriment."

The business daily Handelsblatt writes:

"In Brussels, the clocks tick at a different speed -- that much we knew already. But no one had suspected just how slowly. It took Commission President Barroso a whole week to distance himself from his candidate Rumiana Jeleva. It was clear from the outset that the Bulgarian was not up to the task. At her confirmation hearing in the European Parliament, she contradicted herself with her statements, and not just in those involving her personal assets. She couldn't even answer the simplest questions about her future field, humanitarian aid."

"Nevertheless, Barroso was still standing behind his candidate at the weekend. The president had once more chosen the wrong course of action, as he did five years ago when he tried to rescue the homophobic candidate Rocco Buttiglione. The delay in the start of the new team could even paralyze the EU summit on Feb. 11. Because one person was asleep at the wheel, now the whole of Europe has to wait."

The left-leaning Die Tageszeitung writes:

"The European Parliament should send a letter of thanks to the Bulgarian government. On Tuesday it withdrew its controversial commissioner candidate Rumiana Jeleva - and in the process saved the MEPs from an embarrassing bout of mudslinging... If the resistance to Jeleva (from the center-left, green and left-wing parliamentary groups) had put the election of the new Commission in danger, then the conservatives would have taken their revenge - for example by attacking the center-left Slovakian candidate, Maros Sefcovic, who is said to have made derogatory remarks about the Roma."

"Voters will now be spared this petty conflict. The Parliament will chalk the result up as a success for itself, in the belief that it prevented the most dubious candidate in Barroso's new Commission from being approved, through its tough questioning and its consistent pressure. However, the Parliament, with its hearing, only gave Jeleva a platform on which to make a complete fool of herself for three hours. It did not even have the courage to reject her candidacy. In doing so, it missed an opportunity to make its mark as a new force to be reckoned with, alongside the Council and Commission."

The left-leaning Berliner Zeitung writes:

"Enormous things are taking place in Brussels and Strasbourg. The European Parliament confidently prevented the appointment of the Bulgarian Rumiana Jeleva as the EU commissioner for international cooperation and humanitarian aid. In addition, by blocking Jeleva as commissioner, the parliamentarians simultaneously made it impossible for her to continue as Bulgarian foreign minister."

"The development is a rebuttal to those who say the European Parliament doesn't have any importance. On the contrary, it can even shake up the governments of member states. The parliamentarians should be proud of themselves."

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