Barroso’s crucial eurozone gamble

THE European Commission has had some real leaders, men with elements of greatness: Walter Hallstein, Roy Jenkins, Jacques Delors — father of the EU single market — come to mind.

It has had its share of forgettable presidents: the pompous Gaston Thorn, the bumbling Jacques Santer.

Some fall somewhere in the middle in terms of reputation: the Italian, Romano Prodi is a case in point. And perhaps, also the current incumbent, Jose Manual Barroso.