Nearly four years ago now, on 24th February 2010, in the Brussels European Parliament, Nigel Farage asked Herman Van Rompuy that famous question:
We were told that, when we had a President, we’d see a giant global political figure… Well, I’m afraid what we got was you… And I don’t want to be rude, but… but you know, really, you have the charisma of a damp rag, and the appearance of a low-grade bank clerk… The question that we’re all going to ask is: who are you?
But, it also bears asking that question of the 28 European Commissioners. Are they, at least, giant European figures? Are they damp rags or low-grade clerks; are they something better than that, or what? We thought we’d do some research and find out the facts on their background.
For a start, the system is that each of the 28 EU countries can have a Commissioner. Germany (16% of EU population) has one (Günther Oettinger, Energy). Also, little Malta (0.1%) has one as well (Tonio Borg, Health). This last “giant” has a degree in Law, and worked as a Human Rights Lawyer and Politician – and this man is responsible for Health across the EU?
We might get suspicious about their politics too and the cries of “a bunch of socialists, I bet ” can be heard. Actually, no, 7 are socialists, 6 are liberals, 11 are conservative/centre-right and 4 are apolitical. However, the fact that they are party members is questionable – British civil servants are not permitted to be members of parties.
Let’s look at what their qualifications are. Some are multi-disciplined but 8 have law degrees, 11 have economics degrees and there are other useful qualifications such as sociology, journalism, philosophy, literature and history. Only five have qualifications in what we would call “practical” subjects, such as Teaching, Physics, Business, Chemical Engineering and Horticultural Engineering. And did they use their degrees practically? Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, the Irish Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science (Teaching) did teach for a while then became a politician. Maria Damanaki, the Greek Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Commissioner went straight into politics and she’s clearly not appropriately qualified for the job. Dacian Ciolos, the Romanian Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development is the only one (of ALL the Commissioners) whose qualification (Horticultural Engineering) matches his career and appointment, and is also apolitical, so a good choice – the only one.
Turning to their life experience, some have mainly been politicians, some have been political activists of one sort or another, and a few apolitical – a rather mixed bag. Given that they are there doing the job, and affecting our lives on a daily basis (although we would rather they weren’t) what would we want of these people, politically? One has to say that ideally civil servants should be apolitical. However, they behave as if they are elected, the way Barroso and Ashton carouse across the world, “representing” the peoples of the European Union. The present situation is a fudge, pretending they are politicians when they not elected, but putting them in jobs which ought to be apolitical.
Oh, and the renumeration for this lot? The President gets €293K a year basic, Cathy Ashton on €276K, the Vice-Presidents (shown as VP below) on €265K and the others €239K. Value for Money? Given the power they wield, perhaps justified, but should relative nobodies like these people be paid that much?
The table below gives you the low-down on all of them. At the end of the day we want rid of them, but for now we must keep on asking the question:
Who are you, and by what right do you govern us?
Commissioner /Nation | Appointment | Education | Career | Political Background |
José Manuel Barroso (Portugal) | President | Law | Politician | ex-Maoist, Social Democratic Party |
Catherine Ashton (United Kingdom) | High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy & VP | Sociology | Political Activist never elected | ex-CND, Labour |
Viviane Reding (Luxembourg) | Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship & VP | Human Science | Politician | CSV (christian democrat) |
Joaquín Almunia (Spain) | Competition & VP | Law & Economics | Trade Union | PSOE (socialist worker) |
Siim Kallas (Estonia) | Transport & VP | Finance | Administrator, Politician | ex-Communist, ERP (free-market liberal) |
Neelie Kroes (Netherlands) | Digital Agenda & VP | Economics | Father’s transport company, Politician | VVD (conservative-liberal) |
Antonio Tajani (Italy) | Industry and Entrepreneurship & VP | Law | Air Force Officer, Journalist, Politician | The People of Freedom (centre-right) |
Maroš Šefcovic (Slovakia) | Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration & VP | Law, Economics & international relations | Diplomat | ex-Communist?, none now |
Olli Rehn (Finland) | Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Euro | Economics, international relations & journalism | Politician | Centre |
Janez Potocnik (Slovenia) | Environment | Economics | Academic | ex-Communist?, none now |
Andris Piebalgs (Latvia) | Development | Physics | Teacher | ex-Communist, Latvian Way (centre-right-liberal) |
Michel Barnier (France) | Internal Market and Services | Business | Politician | UMP (centre-right) |
Androulla Vassiliou (Cyprus) | Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth | Law | Lawyer, Politician | United Democrats (liberal) |
Algirdas Šemeta (Lithunia) | Taxation, Customs, Statistics, Audit and Anti-Fraud | Maths & economics | Civil Servant | ex-Communist?, none now |
Karel De Gucht (Belgium) | Trade | Law | Lawyer, Politician | VLD (Flemish liberal) |
Máire Geoghegan-Quinn (Ireland) | Research, Innovation and Science | Teaching | Teacher, Politician | Fianna Fáil (centre-right) |
Janusz Lewandowski (Poland) | Financial Programming and Budget | Economics | Lecturer, writer, researcher, Politician | CV (centre-right) |
Maria Damanaki (Greece) | Maritime Affairs and Fisheries | Chemical Engineering | Politician | ex-Communist, PASOK (socialist) |
Kristalina Georgieva (Bulgaria) | International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response | Economics, politics, sociology | Academic, World Bank, never elected | GERB (centre-right) |
Günther Oettinger (Germany) | Energy | Law & Economics | Lawyer/auditor, Politician | CDU (centre-right) |
Johannes Hahn (Austria) | Regional Policy | Philosophy | Activist, civil servant, never elected | ÖVP (conservative) |
Connie Hedegaard (Denmark) | Climate Action | Literature & History | Politician, Journalist | Conservatives |
Štefan Füle (Czech Republic) | Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy | Philosophy & International Relations | Diplomat, never elected | CSSD (social democrat) |
László Andor (Hungary) | Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion | Economics | Economist, Editor, never elected | MSZP (socialist) |
Cecilia Malmström (Sweden) | Home Affairs | Political Science | Researcher, Lecturer, never elected | FP (liberal) |
Dacian Ciolos (Romania) | Agriculture and Rural Development | Horticultural Engineer | Civil Servant (in Agriculture) | none |
Tonio Borg (Malta) | Health | Law | Human Rights Lawyer, Politician | Nationalist (conservative) |
Neven Mimica (Croatia) | Consumer policy | Economics | Diplomat, Politician | SDP (social democrat) |
Note: Herman van Rompuy is the first full-time President of the European Council, which is the institution of the European Union (EU) comprising the heads of state or government of the EU member states, he is not a Commissioner.
Almunia was part of the revolutionary Marxist wing of his Socialist Party
The EU commissioner who is the most dangerous in my opinion is Viviane Reding, the chief proponent of further federalisation and subsequent EU nationhood.
http://www.eureferendum.com/blogview.aspx?blogno=84618
A draft document on a new treaty setting out the steps to a EU country is now available.
The draft document is good ammunition for UKIP’s EU election campaign, though.
It is interesting that this treaty would require a referendum towards the end of the decade, coming after our own 2017 in/out referendum. It seems like she is hardly ever out of the news recently.
http://ukipdaily.com/cats-bag-eu-wants-abolish-britain-liblabcon/
A fantastic quote, and one that went viral on YouTube (but not on the bbc!).
What a list of nobodys (and worse).
How about Nigel Farage as the next EU president?
I didn’t see ‘your favourite wet rag’ Van Rumpy-Pumpy in the list? I suppose he is able to afford a better tailor than the one he obviously patronises, and on a ‘Presidential’ salary like Barrosso’s?
British civil servants are circumscribed in the political activity they undertake, but are certainly permitted to be members of political parties. Why should they be denied the same rights as everyone else, as the price of their public service? Having spent 30 years working in Whitehall, I worked with several who were elected councillors.