Keep calm – that’s what the advisors of José Manuel Durão Barroso, President of the European Commission, wrote on little papers that they discretely handed over to their boss during the torrid hearing yesterday afternoon at the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament. But actually it was precisely because he didn’t stay calm for once that the debate turned into a passionate exchange of blows with Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Rebecca Harms, co-presidents of the Green group.

Barroso and Cohn-Bendit at yesterday's hearing (source: The Greens/EFA)

Barroso is currently conducting sort of a personal election campaign, fighting for the approval of his candidature by the European Parliament. The only problem is: A large share of the MEPs feels that his achievements do not justify his reelection at the head of the EU administration. That’s why he now tries to convince the socialists (S&D), the liberals (ALDE) and the Greens to support his candidature, appearing this week in front of all parliamentary groups to defend his recently published reelection manifesto.

What was remarkable was the temper with which the (usually dull) Commission President defended his political position (have a look at the full video) – but at the same time, his fundamental problem once more appeared clearly: A lack of new ideas and real leadership. There was not a single innovative or concrete sentence about what difference he could make at the top of the EU, always using the Member States’ resistance as an excuse for every failure or lack of ambition. The only real news: He plans to set up a Commissioner for the fight against climate change and another one in charge of Human Rights and non-discrimination.

“I believe in open markets”, he repeated constantly. That’s barely new and cannot be believed to be a renewed European narrative to capture the citizens’ interest or rebuild trust in the EU institutions (have a look at the memos to the new Commision that the think tank Bruegel presented last week).

All in all, I am sorry to say: Mr Barroso, you may have convinced us of your enthusiasm for keeping your job, but you have definitely not conquered our minds with fresh ideas or the will to overcome short-sighted interests in the Member States. That’s not enough to be our captain in disturbed waters!

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