BRUSSELS - European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso faced down his accusers in the European Parliament on Wednesday, charging that a censure motion against him was aimed at undermining EU institutions.
Clearly aware that he was probably being dragged into a publicity stunt ahead of the key French referendum on the EU constitution, Barroso slammed the motion not as an attack on himself but on the heart of Europe itself.
"We cannot accept this abuse of democracy," he told the assembly at a session in Brussels. "Europeans don't want a circus, they reject gutter politics."
Barroso made headlines last month after it was reported that he and his wife had enjoyed an all expenses-paid holiday on a yacht belonging to billionaire Greek businessman Spiros Latsis.
A group of EU lawmakers including the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) -- which is seeking to have Britain pull out of the EU -- has brought the censure motion saying it is the only way to force Barroso to respond.
But the leaders of the European Parliament's four main parties, who together occupy 597 of the 732 seats in the EU assembly, have dismissed it as a stunt.
"I demand that you censure this censure motion by rejecting it overwhelmingly," a visibly angered Barroso implored the deputies.
"It's alright to be more or less enthusiastic about the European Union ... but it's not alright to use Europe's institutions against each other."
The euroskeptics claim the yacht trip amounted to a gift worth several thousands euros from Latsis who then, one month later, received the green light from the EU commission for a regional aid grant to a value of 10 million euros (12.6 billion dollars).
In an at times strange debate punctuated by laughs and boos, UKIP leader Nigel Farage mocked the former Portuguese prime minister and used his time at the podium to fire off a number of cheap shots.
"The relationship with Mr Latsis, was it really purely personal, was there really no conflict of interest?" he said. "I suggest that possibly you do feel compromised."
"Last November at your inauguration, I asked of this commission: 'Would you buy a used car from them?', I suppose I should have said a luxury yacht."
Barroso reiterated that his trip had been with friends and that the decision to grant Latsis the aid had been made well before he came to office.
"I remind you that the decision was taken by the previous commission ... at a time when I had absolutely no responsibilities within the commission, which demonstrates how unfair, unjustified, illegitimate and absurd this motion is," he told the assembly.
The deputies are expected to vote overwhelmingly against the censure motion when they sit in Strasbourg, France in a session from June 6 to 9.
"We consider this initiative to be unjustified and disproportionate and principally designed to seek publicity for its authors," the four parties said in a statement on May 13.
05/25/2005 14:49 GMT