Oct 8, 2007, 10:18 GMT
Brussels/Berlin - An interview with the head of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, set the sparks flying in Germany on Monday after he criticized Berlin's attitude to Europe.
Barroso's comments were a 'provocation' which 'amazed' diplomats in Brussels, Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung (SDZ) wrote on Monday.
Germany 'pulled Europe out of the crisis over the Reform Treaty, so it has no need to catch up' with the rest of the union, Member of the European Parliament Elmar Brok told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAS) in an implicit rejection of Barroso's comments.
On Saturday, Belgian newspaper De Standaard published a wide- ranging interview with Barroso in which the head of the European Union's executive arm accused Germany of 'contradictory' behaviour towards the EU.
Germany's 'plea to leave power where it can be exercised closest to the citizen ... is really aimed against the European institutions,' Barroso said in an unusually direct statement.
And Germany's apparent reluctance to support reforms to the EU's energy market and to divert unused agricultural funds to pay for the Galileo satellite-navigation system is 'worrying,' he added.
The comments 'went far beyond' the normal framework of dialogue between Brussels and member states, SDZ wrote.
They show that after two years of careful statements aimed at placating member states, Barroso thinks he 'can afford to criticize again,' FAS added.
But the comments themselves were dismissed by commentators in Berlin as electioneering ahead of the appointment of a new commission in 2009 - a body which Barroso reportedly wants to head for the second time.
'It's scarcely likely that Barroso's displeasure with Germany's policies will last. Without the German government's approval, he won't get his heart's desire of a second term in 2009,' FAS wrote.
'Barroso's provocation should be seen less as a serious criticism than as a performance in his own affairs. It's no secret that the president of the commission wants a second term,' SDZ agreed.
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