British MPs question calibre of EU commissioners from small states

MPs have raised concerns about an increase in the number of European Commissioners including whether smaller countries could produce politicians of "sufficient calibre" for the roles. Plans to reduce the size of the commission were shelved as a concession to Ireland following its referendum rejection of the Lisbon Treaty and it is set to remain at one commissioner for each European Union (EU) member state. In the House of Commons today, MPs complained about the cost of an ever-expanding commission and the bureaucracy it will involve. Liberal Democrat Martin Horwood said there were "number of issues" raised by the uncontrolled growth of the commission, but he acknowledged how important having a representative on the body was for some nations. However, he said: "There is, without being unkind to some of the smaller member states, a bit of a capacity issue in terms of their ability to produce candidates of sufficient calibre for something that effects the entire continent. "There is also the issue that it does slightly, in terms of public perception, muddy the whole idea of the commission. "The commission essentially should be the equivalent of our civil service, it should be the...