Comments on: Will Baroness Ashton need a Ludford Law?

By: Jon Worth » Can Baroness Ashton even become a European Commissioner?

Jon Worth » Can Baroness Ashton even become a European Commissioner? — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 22:37:21 +0000

[...] whose role in the House of Lords and as a Lib Dem MEP needed to be resolved from 2009 (more from No geek is an island, and Bondwoman in the comments). So Ashton would probably need something similar in order to be [...]

By: Jeremy Hargreaves

Jeremy Hargreaves — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 22:33:37 +0000

I really thought Kinnock, Patten, Brittan et al had received their peerages before they left Brussels, but if you’ve looked into it then I’ll bow to someone who actually know what they’re talking about

Much though I hugely respect Jon’s knowledge of the EU, I don’t think he’s right on this, as I’ve commented at his blog.

By: Jon Worth

Jon Worth — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:06:10 +0000

There's the small matter of Article 245 of the EC Treaty that prevents Commissioners holding other positions during their term, paid or otherwise. That would seem to be more of a problem that the code of conduct. More detail on that here.

By: Bibliophylax

Bibliophylax — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:02:21 +0000

Good point Jeremy, it's definitely not the same legislation. I think the only Commissioner to hold a peerage while in Brussels was Arthur Cockfield (good exception to the rule!); most of the others were elevated to the Lords, as you say, but after they completed their terms in the EC. List here.

By: Jack

Jack — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:43:09 +0000

If the objective was to avoid a by-election, why not nominate a senior Labour MEP like Glenys Kinnock? She might have been a bit controversial with the Trade portfolio, however.

By: Jeremy Hargreaves

Jeremy Hargreaves — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:26:29 +0000

The prohibition on having a ‘dual mandate’ between the EP and a national Parliament, which affects Sarah Ludford (and did affect some Tory Peer MEPs until the UK government got a derogation beyond their departure from the EP) comes from a different piece of legislation than this.

I would be very surprised if it was thought that membership of the Lords disqualified you from being a Commissioner – and several have been in the past – probably most of them, in fact (though I don’t know if the element of the Commissioners’ Code of Conduct that you refer to was in place then).

It’s right that the government has (finally) brought forward a solution to Sarah Ludford’s specific issue.

By: Will

Will — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:21:25 +0000

Thanks for that, hadn’t seen it before. Will be interesting to see if they do make a similar order for Commissioners.

By: Bibliophylax

Bibliophylax — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:10:59 +0000

The Government seems to have got round it for Sarah Ludford (see SI 2008/1647). I'd guess if this fudge works for the EP it should work for the Commission too.