Jeleva's resignation stalls new EU commission (2nd Lead)

Jan 19, 2010, 11:46 GMT

Strasbourg, France - Bulgaria's controversial candidate for the post of European Commissioner, Rumiana Jeleva, dropped her bid on Tuesday, slamming the brakes on the appointment process for the entire European Union executive.

EU leaders had hoped that the European Parliament would approve the body on January 26 so that it could begin work no later than February 1.

But members of the parliament (MEPs) threatened to block the entire commission unless the conservative Jeleva withdrew her candidacy, accusing her of incompetence and of lying on her declaration of interests.

'Her decision to go is the best outcome for everyone, including herself. After such a poor performance in the parliamentary (hearing), which highlighted her incompetence, this outcome was both inevitable and predictable,' the head of the parliament's socialist group, Martin Schulz, said.

Under EU rules, the parliament cannot reject individual candidates, but has to hold a vote of confidence in all 26 commissioners and their president.

Within minutes of Jeleva's announcement, the head of the commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, issued a statement saying that he accepted her decision and called on the parliament to finalize its approval of the new EU executive as soon as possible.

'The process of the investiture of the new commission should now continue and be concluded at the earliest opportunity,' Barroso said.

Equally swiftly, the Bulgarian government proposed a replacement, the current vice-president of the World Bank, Kristalina Georgieva.

But parliamentary sources said that it would not be possible to assess Georgieva's candidacy before the planned deadline for a confidence vote on the entire commission on January 26.

That means MEPs are most likely to hold a confirmation hearing with Georgieva and a confidence vote in the week of February 8, when they meet in Strasbourg, France.

The delay leaves the EU facing an extended period of caretaker management just when it is trying to draw up a 10-year economic plan and to put its fragile economic recovery on a sounder footing.

The current commission's five-year mandate expired at the end of November.

Jeleva had been nominated to the post of commissioner in charge of international aid. Ahead of her confirmation hearing on January 12, parliament insiders warned that she was likely to face a bruising questioning because of allegations of conflicts of interest which she had concealed when she became an MEP in 2007.

Her hearing degenerated into a fiasco as she accused a liberal Bulgarian MEP, Antonyia Parvanova, of spreading false rumours about her. In a show of solidarity with their fellow-member, MEPs demanded that Parvanova be given the right to reply.

Parvanova accused Jeleva of lying about her business interests on her declaration of assets.

The parliament's legal service cleared her of that charge on Monday, but socialist and liberal MEPs threatened to block her nomination anyway, arguing that she was incompetent.

It is the third scalp of a designated commissioner that the parliament has claimed in recent years. In 2004, MEPs forced the withdrawal of the Italian and Latvian candidates, Rocco Buttiglione and Ingrida Udre.

Buttiglione had offended MEPs with his views on gays, while Udre had been accused of financial impropriety.