The European Parliament’s third and fourth largest group have decided to reject the nomination of Tonio Borg as the EU’s new Health and Consumer Policy Commission, with both arguing that his views were incompatible with his portfolio.

The second largest group – the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) – are non-committal at this stage, although some of its MEPs have publicly taken sides.

British MEP Chris Davies, the group’s coordinator within the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee (ENVI) which led yesterday’s hearing, described Dr Borg’s performance yesterday as “profound,” and added that “we have no reason to doubt that he is competent and able.”

But while he argued that Dr Borg would be an acceptable Commissioner, he noted that ALDE could not be assured that “his views on homosexuality, divorce, abortion and the scientific use of tissues and cells” would not affect his efforts as Health Commissioner, despite his stated opposition to discrimination and his support for human rights.

“Accordingly, we withhold our support for the confirmation of the Commissioner-designate with regard to the particular portfolio for which he has been nominated.”

Mr Davies is the same MEP who had fought alongside the Malta Labour Party against the waste recycling plant in Marsascala. In an article written in The Malta Independent in 2007, Steve Borg, who formed part of the group against the plant, had written: Our first meeting was with British Chris Davies, the Liberal Democrats coordinator for the environment on the ENVI committee. Elected from the northwest of England, Mr Davies is not on the Malta ballot vote and the Liberal Party has as yet to contest elections in our country. Yet he received us as warmly as if we were his very own constituents. That is how politics should be done. We discussed our major concerns and he immediately wrote that same evening to Stavros Dimas expressing his concerns about the blocked MEPA auditor’s report saying that this should be part of the ongoing investigation of the whole process." (see full article)

The Greens/EFA group also expressed their disapproval of the nomination for largely the same reason.

“While Mr Borg demonstrated reasonable knowledge of most files in his prospective portfolio, the Greens/EFA group has concerns about his personal independence and convictions, which were not dispelled during the hearing, and will reject his nomination,” co-presidents Rebecca Harms and Danny Cohn-Bendit said, adding that Dr Borg’s answers on reproductive health and minority rights were evasive.

“An EU commissioner should not simply abide by the Treaties 'whether he likes them or not', as stated by Mr Borg, a commissioner must defend the Treaties and develop new policies based thereon,” they said.

ENVI coordinator Satu Hassi, however, did welcome some of the statements Dr Borg made at the hearing, specifically mentioning “his commitment to the swift adoption of a proposal to strengthen the tobacco directive, to the precautionary principle with regard to GMO authorisations, to a proposal by June 2013 for the prohibition of cloning for food and to full adherence to the marketing ban of cosmetic ingredients tested on animals.”

In its own statement, the S&D said that it would require further commitments from Dr Borg to confirm that he would not let his personal beliefs get in the way, but also reserved some praise for Malta’s foreign minister.

“Mr Borg's performance in the hearing did demonstrate factual knowledge and dedicated preparation which leads us to believe that he could manage the portfolio in an effective manner, if appointed,” president Hannes Swoboda said. However, he also criticised the Maltese government for not selecting a less controversial candidate.