By Bruno Waterfield - 10th November 2005
A European Commission reshuffle of top EU officials highlights some different press perspectives on the Brussels power-game.
The French press mourns a loss of influence as Commission President José Manuel Barroso rings in the changes after one year in office.
“This huge game of musical chairs has ratified the French loss of influence in Brussels and confirms the rise to power of the Anglo-Saxons and the liberals,” laments Le Figaro.
Noting Anglo-Saxon glee in the pro-business FT, the left-leaning Liberation notes the sidelining of a veteran French official François Lamoureux from the Brussels heyday of Jacques Delors.
“This socialist… was the bête noire of the liberals, who hated his too marked taste for official interventionism,” the paper grumbles.
The right-wing UK Telegraph shares the analysis. “Britain and its allies were unable to conceal their relief at the ejection of one Frenchman in particular, François Lamoureux,” it observes.
Le Monde focuses on internal Brussels manoeuvring in the commission’s trade department – a key appointment as WTO talks falter amid French led rows over farm subsidies.
The departure of department chief Peter Carl may signal a more conciliatory EU approach to Trans-Atlantic trade disputes, the newspaper signals.
France is at loggerheads with British Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson over the EU’s position on agricultural tariffs ahead of WTO talks in December.
Carl is replaced by another free-market supporter Ireland’s David O’Sullivan, he was previously secretary general of the commission – the top civil service post – and will be replaced by compatriot Catherine Day.
Sounding a positive note the Polish press reports that eurocrats from the new EU member state officials scoop 11 senior jobs under the new line up.
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