When European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso made his choices for a new Commission in his second term, Greece hoped to get one of the more influential positions, but had to settle for overseeing Maritime Affairs and Fisheries under Maria Damanaki. It’s a spot that potentially could be important or even critical, but is deemed a lesser-echelon job for the EU, which is concentrating more on economics, trade and other hot button issues. Theodoros Skylakakis, a Member of the European Parliament from Greece, stopped during the European People’s Party Congress in Bonn, Germany last month to talk about that decision, the Climate Change conference at Copenhagen that was going on and flopped without any binding decisions, and the curious twists of politics in the EPP and the EU, especially under the new Lisbon Treaty that governs the 27 Member States.

Mr. Skylakakis, Greece has been called the loser in the latest Barosso Commission. It seems that the fisheries portfolio, Fisheries and Maritime, it seems really not that high a profile for a Commissioner. How do you react?

Well, this is not right. We cannot talk like that when we talk about portfolios. Everyone has its importance. I believe we could have done better. But we will do with what we have.

Your party has got a new President. And I was just wondering how that will change anything with your relations or attitude towards the European Union.

It is early days. We have a Congress ahead of us where we will we determine our policies for the future, so we will have to wait for that, and then we’ll go forward towards Europe in our own way.

Another big issue going on right now is the Copenhagen summit, and there has been a little bit of controversy with the, with the what is being called the Danish text coming out. Are you aware about this?

Well yes, but the essence is not the text coming out, the essence is whether the Americans are going to have the ability to sign something meaningful in Copenhagen, because they are the crucial element for a global deal

And now also with Lisbon coming, the parliament is much stronger now. Do you think the Parliament will use its powers wisely?

The Parliament is very wise because it has a lot of people that think, and when it gets out of hand it has its reasons

That is a very good way of putting it. But also, we are seeing with the EPP, winning so well at the European elections, Barroso has come out with his mandate, and he has got a new Commission in. Lisbon is here. It seems everything is al+l set to go now, and there is nothing holding back real progress in the European Union.

-Yes, but we have a hell of a difficult fiscal problem all over Europe, and also a competitiveness problem that will emerge afterwards. So, we will really need for Europe to be able to
go forward

So what do you think we need in the short term to help Europe move forward?
We need from the Parliament side the ability to work with the new Commission very close and with the Council. We have now a lot of new people in and we need to bring them together effectively

And how are the new MEPs doing. They seem to be getting quite vocal quite early on. They seem to be, how we say, finding their feet.

Well, the new MEPs are not so new. They all have some experience in national politics or international scene. And as you know, the Old Boy Club no longer holds in Europe, or the Old Girl Club

The other big change that we have seen is that the British Conservative party has left the EPP. It seems quite a strange move given how well the EPP is doing. Do the EPP miss the British conservatives?

I personally miss them. I believe that we need Great Britain’s voice in our, in the party. It’s a big country, an important country, and it will also help in numbers of votes as well.

But you of course have no plans to withdraw from the EPP?
Of course, but it is essential that we create a big center-right majority in the Parliament, and the Conservatives play a role towards that

Theodoros Skylakakis is a member of the European Parliament, and a member of the European Parliament’s Committees on Budgetary Controls, Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, and Delegation for Relations with China. He is a graduate of Athens University School of Law, received his Master’s degree in Business Administration from the City University of London, founded two communications companies, has been an advisor to Greek prime ministers and the defense ministry, was a deputy mayor of Athens, and Deputy City Manager for the Olympic Games, and has written many articles for Greek newspapers