 Jose Manuel Barroso has put together a new team |
At the mid-term European summit in Brussels, the president-elect of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso has reshuffled his cards. It seems highly likely to win cross-party support and solve the crisis which has forced the current commission - including Vice-President Neil Kinnock - to remain in post.
But what do Wales' MEPs make of the changes?
And to what extent are they representative of views across the European Union?
At this summit, two of the most problematic commissioners - Italy's Rocco Buttiglione and Latvia's Ingrida Udre - have been removed from the equation.
He was forced to withdraw after airing his personal views on homosexuality and the role of women, while she was removed after allegations of fraud and Euro scepticism (as well as a domestic change of government.)
A third problem was the competence of the Hungarian nominee, Laszlo Kovacs, to deal with the energy portfolio.
He has now been given a different brief, as commissioner for taxation and customs union.
 Italy's Rocco Buttiglione stood down as commissioner-designate |
The two new commissioners are the Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini (justice, freedom and security) and the former Latvian ambassador to the EU Andris Piebalgs (energy).
As a barometer of opinion in the 732-strong army of MEPs, the four European parliamentarians from Wales provide an excellent yard-stick to measure the reaction to the new commission.
When MEPs forced the President-designate Jose Manuel Barroso to stand back from the brink, and to get back to the drawing board in terms of the nominees for the European Commission, the MEPs from Wales represented three distinct and crucial groups within the Parliament.
Jonathan Evans, with only a month or so left to go as leader of the British Conservative MEPs, is part of the largest single political group in Strasbourg.
New problems
He and his 267 centre-right colleagues were fully supportive of the original commission and specifically, were more than willing to accept the candidature of the now-infamous Rocco Buttiglione.
But the removal of Mr Buttiglione (and the retention of the former Hungarian Communist Laszlo Kovacs) may have created new problems for Barroso.
According to Jonathan Evans, "the changes made are discriminatory."
He claims that "Barroso wants minimum changes, in order to get a majority on the left" and that a number of party leaders on the centre-right are very concerned at the latest developments.
 |  I hope that this time Barroso has put together a team that will satisfy the important principles which the parliament identified two weeks ago  |
However, Mr Evans concludes that "it is probable that the dynamics are that in order to get the Barroso commission up and running, then the new proposals will win the day."
Labour's Glenys Kinnock and Eluned Morgan belong to the 200-strong Socialist group - the second largest group of MEPs.
Two weeks ago, they were hoping for some compromise from Barroso, but when it became apparent that Mr Buttiglione's name would still be on the commission's team-sheet, their position became more militant.
Had they been pacified, then the current crisis would undoubtedly have been avoided.
This time, according to Glenys Kinnock, the outcome is likely to be different.
"I hope that this time Barroso has put together a team that will satisfy the important principles which the parliament identified two weeks ago," she said.
 Jonathan Evans has questioned the changes made |
"Naturally the competency of the new candidates will be assessed very carefully at parliamentary hearings.
"A question marks still hangs over the eligibility of Neelie Kroes as competition commissioner.
"However, it is likely that Socialists will endorse her in the interests of institutional stability."
Finally, Plaid Cymru's Jill Evans, who sits with the Greens, represents a more problematic (but much smaller) section of MEPs.
The only way in which this group would have given their full support, was if a much more comprehensive package of changes had been on offer.
The removal of Mr Buttiglione and Mr Buttiglione alone would never have been enough.
When asked about the new line-up for the commission, a spokesperson for Plaid Cymru said they were not prepared to respond to the latest developments, until a group meeting of the Greens next week. However, given that the Greens only have 42 MEPs, then their position is unlikely to be decisive.
The timetable for the parliamentary hearings and the vote has once again been set in the political arena of Strasbourg, on 15-18 November.
But the barometer reading of the views of Welsh MEPs suggests that the result this time round will be very different.
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