STRASBOURG (AFP) - Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini carefully avoided controversy as he was grilled by EU lawmakers over his fitness to take up the sensitive European Commission justice brief.
Frattini, replacing disputed candidate Rocco Buttiglione as Rome's EU nominee, notably vowed that if approved he will distance himself from Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who faces a web of legal action.
His comments came at a three-hour confirmation hearing at the European Parliament, part of EU efforts to end an unprecedented state of limbo which has delayed the EU executive from taking office.
The EU legislative assembly is widely expected to finally approve the new commission in a vote scheduled for Thursday.
But MEPs had promised a potentially bumpy ride. Some critics suggested before the hearing that an Italian nominee should not get the sensitive EU justice brief at all, given the judicial problems surrounding Berlusconi.
In response Frattini -- a former ski instructor who one MEP said was using his skills on the slopes to avoid upsets in his EU grilling -- repeatedly insisted he will remain completely independent from the Italian government.
And he declined to comment on Berlusconi's latest problem: a prosecutor's call for him to face an eight-year jail term on charges of bribing judges.
"Obviously I will not comment on the reference to domestic situations," he said. "I am here as a candidate, a representative for Europe, I am not here to represent or defend a national government."
Jose Manuel Barroso's new EU executive was supposed to take office on November 1. But he was forced to withdraw his first-choice team at the last minute on October 27 after EU lawmakers threatened to veto it in protest principally at Buttiglione's views that homosexuality was a "sin."
This plunged the EU into uncharted waters, with outgoing commission head Romano Prodi having to stay on as a caretaker in the Brussels EU executive until the situation is resolved.
Buttiglione stood down only after EU leaders made it clear that he could not credibly remain as Rome's candidate for Brussels.
To resolve the standoff incoming commission chief Barroso also accepted a replacement for Latvia's disputed nominee Ingrida Udre, while reshuffling Hungarian Foreign Minister Laszlo Kovacs.
On Monday MEPs' questioning mostly focussed squarely on serious policy issues, and Frattini vowed to find a balance between boosting security to tackle new threats such as post-9/11 terrorism, and protecting civil liberties.
Frattini had clearly learned the lesson of not rising to contentious personal or moral questions, as Buttiglione did in his hearing.
At one point an EU lawmaker asked him about his views on gay marriages -- which are so far only allowed in two of the EU's 25 member states: Belgium and the Netherlands.
He avoided the specific question, but replied that freedom of movement -- which allows gay couples to get married where they want to -- was guaranteed under EU law.
Frattini notably denied he was a freemason -- a suggestion made by Buttiglione himself last week, apparently lashing out after his enforced withdrawal. "I'm not a Mason. I have never been one," he said.
Hungary's Kovacs, who was widely criticized for not having a command of the energy brief in his first confirmation hearings, is due to be grilled again on Tuesday morning.
11/15/2004 - 21:00 GMT - AFP