EU: Being himself and exuding charm and intellectual vitality, Charlie McCreevy triumphed at the European Parliament, writes Denis Staunton.
Nobody doubted that Charlie McCreevy would be well prepared for yesterday's hearing at the European Parliament but his closest associates were a little nervous that MEPs might have difficulty understanding the new Commissioner.
Mr McCreevy's idiosyncratic speech, delivered at breakneck speed, created one of the greatest challenges to EU interpreters during the Irish Presidency earlier this year, when he was cautious to a fault, often reading as slowly as possible from a prepared text in response to press conference questions.
Yesterday, Mr Mc Creevy decided to be himself and he was a triumph, winning over some of his fiercest ideological opposites with an engaging performance that exuded personal charm and intellectual vitality. He used down to earth language and homespun phrases to communicate effectively his vision of an efficient single market that would benefit all EU citizens.
The former minister for finance had to persuade MEPs that he was up to the job of Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, that he was committed to the EU and that he was ideologically flexible enough to establish a good working relationship with the European Parliament.
Before he was halfway through his presentation, it was clear that Mr McCreevy had already broken down a few barriers.
"I think we'll have quite a lot of fun in this committee if you are approved," a Swedish MEP told him.
Mr McCreevy illustrated the benign effects of competition with an anecdote about meeting a group of Irish football fans on their way to Paris yesterday. He said their low-cost flights not only benefited the fans and the airline but the coach operator who took them to the airport in Dublin and the hoteliers and bar-keepers of Paris.
Some MEPs looked a little puzzled when the Fine Gael MEP, Mr Gay Mitchell, engaged Mr McCreevy in an exchange about the "Tallaght Strategy", an ill-fated move in the 1980's towards fiscal austerity. Mr McCreevy invoked the name of the former Labour spokesman on Finance, Senator Derek McDowell, in response to a question about the future Commissioner's independence from his officials.
Sen McDowell once told the Dáil that the best way of establishing what Mr McCreevy was not going to do was to find out what his officials wanted him to do.
After the hearing was over, Mr McCreevy said he looked forward to five challenging years in Brussels, hinting that the experience could prove challenging for his officials too.
"Any politician who has had a cushy life has not achieved anything. It's not my intention to make this a cushy number - either for myself or for the directorate general," he said.