The US election is looking tighter than ever, with Barack Obama moving from a strong lead down to a tenth of a percentage point over his rival. Of course, the election could again be decided by a Florida court, but there is one man in Brussels who is counting on an Obama victory.

Key to the re-election of Barak Obama may prove the tobacco farmers vote in several States. Large numbers of tobacco producers are concentrated in North Carolina, where one of the world’s major cigarette manufacturers, R. J. Reynolds, have their headquarters in Winston-Salem, but also in the very critical State of Kentucky as well as in Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia and another six states with substantial numbers of tobacco growers.

The tobacco lobby in the United Sates is definitely the strongest in the American capital as they pay in “votes,” the “hard currency” of American politics.

Highly placed sources in Washington DC have told New Europe, under condition of anonymity, that one of the ‘hot’ topics discussed in recent private talks between the White House and Berlaymont (not Joseph II) was the Tobacco Directive.

Our sources claim that “if the exercise works” then, a suitably prominent European could get the blessing to become the next UN Secretary General.

Candidates for the UN top job must have the support of the Security Council, who put forward names to the UN General Assembly, but there are a number of ‘informal rules’.

A European citizen, from a small country, with high level institutional experience, to give a hypothetical example, may feel he’s in with a chance and having the indulgence of the White House… wouldn’t hurt.

Now, in an election time, anything can happen and any type of conspiracy theory can be treated with more gravity than it deserves, so caution is advised.

But, that last week the president of the Commission was in Ivory Coast and next week is planning to visit Indonesia, is certainly a coincidence and the whole thing may be a conspiracy theory, one of the many.

While Barroso may once have thought that he might have a chance at a third term, that dream must surely have passed by now. As one observer of Berlaymont said archly, “Three terms? The man’s a walking argument for a one-term limit!”

Presumed Resignation

This, however, may or may not be the political aspect of the “execution” of th Tobacco Directive yet it is not an argument for any Court. Justice is a different issue and the years of Armand Jean du Plessis, cardinal-duc de Richelieu et de Fronsac, who invented the very convenient concept of “raison d’État”, are more than half a millennium behind.

In this context, the European Commission should give to the European Court convincing explanations as to why it violated the OLAF manual during the investigation on John Dalli, which if it did not most probably Dalli would have been declared innocent beyond any doubt.

Indeed, John Dalli was never informed of what he has been accused of and he was not given the opportunity provided in all legal system of the world (including North Korea), to defend himself with a final statement.

Furthermore, the Commission will have to explain to the Court how it claims that John Dalli resigned, although he was given by Luis Romero (the Director of the Legal Service of the European Commission) a written text to sign for resignation, in the presence of the President of the Commission and the Head of his Cabinet, and John Dalli never signed it.

Finally, as to whether John Dalli resigned or not, we wish to notice that in legal matters, only “scripta manet” count and this was the reason Luis Romero has handed to John Dalli a written resignation to sign.

Related documents to the presumed resignation of John Dalli can be found in the New Europe Online site and are:

(1) the Press Release of the European Commission of October 16 announcing the “resignation” of Dalli,

(2) the Press Release of John Dalli (same date), which the Commission Press Service refused to distribute to the media,

(3) the resignation draft handed to John Dalli (same day) by Luis Romero which Dalli never signed,

(4) the letter John Dalli sent to Jose Manuel Barroso on October 21 asking him to invite him to resign on the grounds of article 17.6 of the Treaty, and

(5) the reply of Jose Manuel Barroso to John Dalli of October 23.

Looking at the documents above and considering the request of the Director of the Legal Service for a written resignation (which he never received) John Dalli is still a member of the European Commission. As to the appointment of the second Maltese Commissioner, this is something that only the Director of the Legal Service Luis Romero (who is still waiting for the resignation of the first) can tell us.