Lymec-PM: Barroso uses EU money to promote his candidacy (03. September 2009)
European Liberal Youth - LYMEC welcomes the fact that José Manuel Barroso, current President of the European Commission and candidate for another term, today (Thursday, 3 September) published a 41-page document outlining his political visions for the next five years. The young liberals though are concerned that he published his document on the official website of the European Commission and are concerned that money from the EU budget could have been used to translate the document into all EU languages. LYMEC calls for an open and fair election and that every candidate has the same options for promoting his or her candidacy.
LYMEC President Aloys Rigaut states: "This is the first time something that comes close to an EU government programme has been drafted, and we can only welcome such a symbol. The ALDE Group in the European Parliament sent to Mr Barroso a letter containing five key political demands, and it will certainly check if their points have been included, but we as European Liberal Youth will equally scrutinise this document in depth and make our voice heard."
Before adding: "Let me however immediately say that I am disappointed that this programme uses the same EU jargon and remains so general, setting a vision for 2020 instead of listing concrete proposals to be undertaken in the next 5 years. It seems to have been drafted by Commission bureaucrats, not by EU politicians. The objective to generalise Erasmus within the next 10 years is however certainly laudable: we will monitor this closely".
LYMEC Vice President Alexander Plahr declares: "This document is a step in the right direction. However, it remains to be seen if the parliament coalition (PES, EPP, ALDE) that Mr Barroso counts on really works out in the end. We as LYMEC are rather sceptical if such a broad coalition which is bound together by nothing than pure technical arrangements is the right way to govern Europe."
Before continuing to add: "Furthermore, we are very much irritated by the fact that this election programme of candidate Barroso is hosted on official Commission web space. Not only that, it also is translated in all of the Union’s languages, leading to the question of who paid for this translation. If Mr Barroso used official Commission resources to advocate his own campaign for another term as Commission Preisent, that would be utterly unacceptable."
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