BRUSSELS, Oct 27 (AFP) - EU lawmakers dealt a new blow to European leaders' grand designs for the expanding bloc Wednesday, only two days before they are to sign a first-ever EU constitution which itself is already in doubt.
Insiders said the European Parliament's unprecedented blocking of a new European Commission shows the growing muscle of the EU assembly -- both against the EU executive and national governments.
"I don't see it as chaos. I see it more as a growing up of European democracy, this conflict we see here between the European Parliament and the commission," said Dutch Europe minister Atzo Nicolai, whose country currently holds the European Union's rotating presidency.
"It's not the worst scenario of a 'no' vote, it's a postponement of the decision," he added, after incoming Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso backed down and withdrew his new EU executive rather than face a veto.
Concretely Barroso will now consult EU leaders to find a compromise line-up for the EU executive. In the meantime outgoing Commission chief Romano Prodi has agreed to stay on as caretaker in Brussels.
It remains unclear how soon or how difficult this will be. But what is clear is that it will be an unwelcome cloud over a gathering of EU leaders in Rome on Friday, to sign an unprecedented constitution for the expanding bloc.
In theory the Rome ceremony is due to be a celebration of the "historic" step for the nearly half-century old bloc, an echo of the 1957 Rome Treaty which founded the EU's predecessor.
But the Commission standoff will come a stark reminder of the complexities of decision-making in a Union which this year expanded from 15 to 25 countries, and which could grow to 28 or more in the next few years.
There has been much talk in the last year of a growing crisis in the EU: the bloc's May 1 enlargement and the drafting of the constitution undoubtedly fueled it.
While the constitution will be signed Friday, huge question marks remain over whether it will ever be ratified, as nearly a dozen countries prepare to hold referenda in the coming year or two.
Another symptom of the EU's looming malaise came in June elections for the EU assembly which saw the lowest-ever voter turnout coupled with a record surge in euroskeptic parties.
One such group, the UK Independence Party (UKIP), was among the first to welcome the slap delivered to the Commission in Strasbourg.
"I think it's really good for parliament," said UKIP star MEP Robert Kilroy-Silk. "If they want to hold the (EU) executive to account then they've got to show that they are serious. This is the beginnings of that."
Other MEPs were quick to claim victory, including the Socialists who were the key group opposing Buttiglione and three or four other members of Barroso's incoming team deemed either unfit for office or at best lacklustre.
Before Wednesday's denouement of the standoff, some MEP had warned that an outright veto would have plunged the EU into a full-blown institutional crisis.
But analysts and other MEPs tempered the sense of panic. "An important lesson to (Barroso) is to understand the increasing role of the parliament," said John Palmer, political director of the European Policy Centre in Brussels.
"It is the first time any president of the commission has to face the coming of age of the parliament," he added.
10/27/2004 13:59 GMT - AFP