Nieuwe Europese Commissie wellicht van start op 22 november (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The new European Commission could be in place by 22 November - three weeks after it was supposed to take office.

MEPs will vote on the new team of Commissioners next Thursday (18 November) after the original vote of approval was postponed - mainly due to the controversy surrounding the Italian candidate for Commissioner, Rocco Buttiglione.

Assuming the European Parliament gives the go ahead, the new Commission could be approved by the Council on Friday (19 November) and take office a few days later on Monday.

"The Council has to endorse the parliament vote", said a Commission spokesperson adding that it is likely to just be a "matter of days".

The Council may give its approval in writing - and is set to recommend as early a starting date as possible to end the current political and legal uncertainty created by the caretaker situation in the EU.

Practising portfolios

Over the coming week, the three Commissioners affected by incoming president José Manuel Durao Barroso's shuffle of the team will be brushing up their knowledge for their portfolios.

Most of the attention is likely to focus on Laszlo Kovacs, the Hungarian Commissioner, who was deemed professionally "incompetent" for the first post as energy Commissioner.

Mr Kovacs now has to get to grips with the taxation and customs union portfolio instead -and is set to be quizzed by MEPs on Tuesday morning (16 November).

His hearing will run parallel to that of Italy's Franco Frattini before the legal affairs committee.

Mr Frattini will also have a first hearing on Monday evening before the civil liberties committee - in order to cover all aspects of his justice and home affairs portfolio.

Mr Frattini, who has been Italy's foreign minister until now, is set to be far less controversial than his proposed predecessor Rocco Buttiglione, who caused such uproar with his view on gays and the role of women in society.

The third Commissioner, the Latvian Andris Piebalgs, is set to appear before MEPs to discuss his ideas for the energy portfolio on Monday evening.

Better ambience

Although not all of Parliament's wishes for the Commission have been taken on board - they also raised concerns about the Dutch Commissioner Neelie Kroes - the sting has been taken out of their rhetoric following Mr Barroso's shuffle.

"The ambience is far more positive than it was three weeks ago", said a parliament spokesperson.

But the Commission, for its part, is determined not to appear too confident after its President-designate misjudged the situation the first time round.

"We're still in the hands of the parliament", said Commission spokeswoman Pia Ahrenkilde.