Barroso verwacht nieuwe Europese Commissie in gewijzigde samenstelling te presenteren (en)

Commission President-designate Jose Manuel Durao Barroso is expected to unveil his new Commission line-up during a meeting of EU leaders this Thursday (4 November), a task made easier by the resignation of the controversial Italian, Rocco Buttiglione.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said, according to Le Monde, "the proposals that Mr Barroso would like to make ... will become known during the next European Council".

This takes place on 4 and 5 November in Brussels.

Mr Buttiglione - who caused an unprecedented European crisis with his comments about gays and the role of women in society - withdrew his candidacy over the weekend, but remained unrepentant.

He said he was the victim of an "orchestrated campaign" against him and that his views had been "distorted by superficial press coverage".

But he reiterated that he was "happy to have expressed the values in which he believes and happy to suffer for them", adding that he was stepping down to "enable the success of the Barroso Commission".

Easier - but still not easy

Mr Buttiglione's self-sacrifice leaves Mr Barroso in an easier position but he still has many difficult choices ahead.

Following several meetings with EU leaders on the margins of the Rome ceremony to sign the European Constitution, Mr Barroso must now decide whether to simply replace Mr Buttiglione or reshuffle his whole team.

Politically, the centre-right group in the European Parliament (the European People's Party - EPP), are likely to call for a Socialist to be sacrificed as well, to maintain the political balance of the new Parliament.

A prime candidate for this sacrifice is Hungarian energy commissioner-designate Laszlo Kovacs, who was derided as "incompetent" during his hearing.

EPP sources told Le Figaro, "if Buttiglione jumps then Kovacs has to go as well".

Others under pressure are the Dutch Liberal commissioner-designate for competition Nellie Kroes and Latvia's Ingrida Udre, expected to take over the tax and customs union brief.

There has been some speculation that Ms Kroes - whose wide business experience has led to charges that she might encounter conflicts of interest in her role - might be swapped with internal market commissioner-designate Charlie McCreevy from Ireland.

But some leaders warned against reshuffling too much of the team. Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany, said, "be careful, if you send too many people back home, the Commission will start to look like an abattoir".

Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is expected to announce his new candidate for Brussels on Wednesday and he is widely thought to favour Foreign Minister Franco Frattini for the post.

And meanwhile, the Prodi Commission will act as "caretaker", albeit with slimmed down offices.