Barroso-Reding relations 'excellent' as row brews over Roma comments

By Martha Moss - 15th September 2010

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The European commission has insisted that José Manuel Barroso enjoys an "excellent" working relationship with all commissioners, following Viviane Reding's unprecedented attack on France for its treatment of Roma people.

There had been questions raised over whether Barroso had been aware of the content of Reding's statement, which branded the French deportations a "disgrace" and said infringement proceedings could be launched against Paris.

Many commentators have noted the unusually strong language used by Reding, who slammed her fist on the press podium as she declared, "My patience is wearing thin: enough is enough."

The commission president insisted that Reding had his "personal backing", but acknowledged that "one or other of the expressions used in the heat of the moment may have given rise to misunderstanding".

"Reding did not want to establish any parallels between what happened in the second world war and the present," Barroso said.

Earlier, a commission spokeswoman had been batting questions about whether Nicolas Sarkozy had been complicit in 'lies' relating to France's treatment of the Roma people, and about any potential fallout between Reding, who is commission vice-president for justice, and Barroso over the content of the speech.

"The working relationship between the president and all the commissioners is excellent," an exacerbated-looking spokeswoman told reporters on Wednesday.

Journalists wanted to know if Barroso would discuss the issue with Sarkozy at this week's Brussels summit. They were assured he would deal with the issue in a calm, proper and objective manner.

One asked if the commission president had changed his opinion on Sarkozy following recent developments. To this, the spokeswoman laughed and shook her head. "I have no comment," she said for what seemed like the fourth time in as many minutes. "I don't think this is appropriate."