By Francesca Ross - 1st July 2009
Newly elected Liberal leader Guy Verhofstadt has claimed there is "no possibility" of a July vote to reinstate José Manuel Barroso as head of the commission.
Outlining his group's position he explained, "The European council must first accept its responsibility in the procedure and formalise its decision to nominate its candidate... they will have to play first of all. We will play afterwards."
He continued, "Everyone is talking about the procedure of nomination, and yet it has not even started" which he said was "original but not normal".
The group's strategy regarding Barroso's potential reinstatement puts the economic crisis clearly at the forefront of their decision making, he added.
Furthermore, Liberals in the parliament will be "preparing a programme for what we believe should be addressed by the commission in the next five years."
They expect to see the same from any presidential candidate, he continued, and would examine each on a case by case basis.
Verhofstadt explained a coordinated effort is needed to buck the crisis as, "the core idea is that Europe shouldn't just be a coordination strategy, but must work to a European response… which all members will have to take part in."
Socialist and Democrats group leader Martin Schulz also condemned the speed of the process for keeping Barroso in office, adding, "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… that they cannot take decisions alone in this parliament. They need support from us and from other pro-European forces."
This bodes well for the ALDE group, whose new leader also called for political unity saying he would "build a broad coalition of political forces in the European parliament," specifically ruling out cooperation with eurosceptic views.
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