European Commission in a crisis

José Manuel Barroso, president-elect of the European Commission, has withdrawn his proposed team from being voted on because it was clear that it would not be ratified by a vote of the members of the European Parliament. This puts the Commission in "virgin territory" because it is in violation of its own laws and there are no legal guidelines for what happens next. A coaliation of liberals, socialists and Greens have pledged to oppose Barroso's proposed governing team because of one of the members of that team. Rather than suffer a defeat, Barroso withdrew from the vote, leaving the current governing group in place on a care-taker basis, whatever that means.

The delay means that Romano Prodi’s administration will continue on a caretaker basis, ”for as long as it is necessary”, the Dutch presidency of the European Union said on Wednesday. The next meeting of the European parliament will take place in mid-November.

Josep Borrell, president of the parliament, said both Commission and Parliament were now “exploring political virgin territory” because the vote delay was in breach of EU rules and regulations.