Czech EU Commissioner has sympathy for Buttiglione but sees new situation as an opportunity

When one of the proposed new EU Commissioners, Italy's Rocco Buttiglione, suggested that homosexuality was a sin and a woman's place was in the home, he caused so much outrage in the European Parliament that the incoming Commission chief, Jose Manuel Barroso, put off presenting the new team for parliamentary approval last week. Now the controversial Italian has withdrawn his candidacy, freeing Mr Barroso to make changes to his team. One person directly affected by all this is Pavel Telicka, the Czech Republic's outgoing EU Commissioner, who was expecting to leave his job this week, but instead is likely to stay on until the mess is sorted out. Radio Prague's David Vaughan spoke to Mr Telicka for his views on the crisis, and asked him how he felt about Mr Buttiglione's provocative statements.

Czech EU Commissioner has sympathy for Buttiglione but sees new situation as an opportunity

"I must say that in some respects, though I would disagree with his views, he had my sympathies for being able to say, 'I will not denounce my faith just for the sake of a Commission post.' That was for me a very positive sign, though I would not agree with his views."

Don't you think that Mr Barroso should have been more outspoken and said, 'Mr Buttiglione isn't up to the job. We need to replace him'?

Rocco Buttiglione, photo: CTK

"It's quite difficult to say what he should or should not have done, whether he should have been more outspoken, because one does not have the information that he possesses. I don't know what talks he had with Prime Minister Berlusconi. I don't know what options he was considering."

Would your tip be that there will be more than one change in the Commission - that more of the proposed commissioners will go?

"Some say there might be one person, some say there might be more, some say that one and a reshuffle. Let's wait and see. I think it's very much up to the president. I think that I would only say that the president now has an opportunity to create a college that he stands behind, that in his view will be strong enough and confident enough to deliver in the next five years, that will also be appreciated by the parliament and other institutions with which the Commission will have to work, whether it means one change or several or a reshuffle is really just his responsibility, and I think it would be unfair for me to intervene in that."

Jose Manuel Barroso, photo: CTK

Do you think that all this business is simply discrediting the European Union, as an example of petty competition between the Commission and the European Parliament, or is it possibly a sign that democracy in the sense of discussion of real Europe-wide issues is actually getting to the highest level in the EU?

"Well, clearly there are people in the European institutions that unfortunately - though I think primarily unfortunately for themselves - perceive this as some kind of a power struggle, and I'm sure that some will have taken that as an opportunity. But I think that, whether positive or negative, it's just genuine, and I think that the political groups were telling Mr Barroso their views and they remained consistent."