Jeleva's fall was a sorry EPP farce

If Karl Marx, that sometime Brussels resident, were around today, he would no doubt observe that, in the European Parliament, facts and personages appear, as it were, twice: the first time as farce, the second time as even lower farce.

In 2004, the Parliament was spoiling for a fight with Commission President José Manuel Barroso, determined to make something of its prerogative to approve or reject the Commission. It duly brought down Rocco Buttiglione, a politician of standing, as well as the vastly less experienced Ingrida Udre.

But in 2010, the Parliament's leadership was desperate to approve the nominees, drawing blood almost in spite of itself.

The resignation on Tuesday of Rumiana Jeleva from a post to which she had not yet been appointed – Bulgaria's European commissioner – and, in addition, from her current job as foreign minister, was a sad end to an unhappy few weeks in the European spotlight. She had passed a relatively blameless two years as an MEP, making family friends within the European People's Party (EPP). The European Parliament repaid her with a nomination hearing from which she never recovered.

Although MEPs might puff themselves up with pride at having brought down at least one nominee, self-congratulation is hardly warranted. In the way that the hearings have been structured and the way that most MEPs have conducted themselves – showing themselves pathologically incapable of simple questions and straightforward follow-through – has ensured most commissioners-designate have been able to get away without committing any howlers or committing Barroso II to uncomfortable promises.

A half-decent politician ought to have been able to pass the test of a Parliamentary hearing. EPP accusations of a witch-hunt against Jeleva are overdone: Jeleva failed because she was not even half-decent. Maroš Šefcovic, on the other hand, who was the target of something suspiciously like a witch-hunt, passed with flying colours.

But Jeleva was not the only one at fault. Boyko Borisov, Bulgaria's prime minister, should not have nominated her in the first place – a point he has underlined by nominating a much stronger replacement in Kristalina Georgieva.

Barroso, who was let down in 2004 by his EPP friends, must be feeling a sense of déjà vu. He should not have accepted the nomination of Jeleva from Borisov back in November, but the EPP has been desperate to encourage Borisov and has been reluctant to take a tough line with him. Having accepted Jeleva, Barroso assigned to her a portfolio which he probably considered of lesser importance – but the Haiti earthquake will have underlined the point that humanitarian aid matters very much to the EU's international reputation. When the accusations against Jeleva began to fly, Barroso probably listened too much to his EPP allies. His attempt at a neutral verdict – that her declaration of financial interests as a commissioner-designate was in order - came dangerously close to suggesting that he did not mind if her declaration as an MEP was not in order.

Barroso can at least console himself that although he may have suffered temporary damage, his team has been strengthened by the resignation and the replacement.

For Joseph Daul, the leader of the EPP MEPs and a friend of Jeleva's, there is no such consolation. He stood up for her for too long, expending political capital on dodgy stock. Not so long ago, the EPP family seemed to be dominating European politics. The Jeleva episode will dent the impression of invincibility: the EPP's political opponents will take heart.

Daul will, along with other MEPs from the EPP group, have to reflect that revenge is a dish best served cold. They were unable to bring down any liberal or socialist nominees for commissioner, so will have to lick their wounds and wait. One possible target is Martin Schulz, the leader of the Socialists and Democrats group, who is in line to succeed Jerzy Buzek as president of the Parliament. Daul denied that Schulz's succession was in doubt. But if the cosy stitch-up between the Parliament's two biggest groups over the Parliament presidency does come unstuck, that will indeed be a happy ending to an unhappy farce.