European Parliament political leaders confirmed on Thursday (10 October) the timetable for the confirmation hearings of candidates for the new European Commission, to begin on 4 November.
The final schedule puts Slovakian veteran Maroš Šefčovič in the hot seat first, with other junior commissioners following suit over a four-day period. All candidates for executive vice-president (EVP) positions will be heard last, in a single day on 12 November.
The Conference of Presidents (CoP), made up of group leaders and the European Parliament president, decided on one of two options recommended by committee chairs earlier in the week, as reported by Euractiv, with some alterations.
In addition to the bumper day of hearings on 12 November, the final timetable means there will be no hearings on the Belgian national holiday of 11 November. Incoming top diplomat Kaja Kallas (Renew) has also switched positions in the running order with prospective tech chief, Finland’s Henna Virkkunen (EPP), whose hearing will now be last.
This means that the industry, research and energy committee (ITRE) will have to split their members and co-chair two hearings at the same time, when Spain’s Teresa Ribera (S&D) will be heard at the same time as Virkunnen on the evening of 12 November.
It is believed that group leaders advocated for their candidates to go first in order to prevent potential political backlash if an early candidate faced especially aggressive questioning. The final timetable sees more right-wing candidates face questioning sooner than their liberal and centre-left counterparts.
The schedule also leaves other committes double-booked. The environment committee (ENVI), who was set to co-chair the hearing of commissioner-designate for agriculture, Christophe Hansen (EPP), in an original proposal drafted by committee chiefs, is left demoted and overcommitted.
The committee is now merely invited, without a vote on the agriculture commissioner’s approval. It is also invited to be present at Apostolos Tzitzikostas’s (EPP) hearing for the transport portfolio, taking place simultaneously on Monday 4 November.
Political tension over the confirmation process appears to be building already, with lawmakers from the Greens and the Left groups having walked out of a meeting of the Parliament’s legal affairs committee (JURI) on Thursday, in protest at the committee’s process for vetting the commissioners-designate for conflicts of interest.
If all commissioners are confirmed by their respective committees, the collective Commission will be put to a vote during the Parliament’s plenary session in Strasbourg on 25-28 November. Should that vote pass, the new Commission could be sworn in by early December.
[Edited by Owen Morgan]
Source: euractiv.com
