Documents seen by Euractiv reveal the European Parliament is mulling two timetables for the confirmation hearings of the next European Commission.
The two possible timetables for the hearings are due to be discussed at the Conference of Committee Chairs (CCC) on Tuesday afternoon (8 October).
The CCC will then submit their recommendation to the Conference of Presidents (COP), made up of political group leaders, who will finalise the timeline on Thursday (10 October).
The two timelines were suggested by the head of the CCC, Bernd Lange (DE, S&D).
Hearings Timetable 1
Hearings Timetable 2 (1)
The first timeline, which would see candidates appraised in order of seniority from most junior to most senior, would appear to favour parties from the hemicycle’s rightwing, as prominent centre-right and conservative commissioners-designate are among the first to take the hot seat, before their centre-left and liberal counterparts.
Group leaders are understood to have pushed for their candidates to go first, to avoid possible political reprisals should an early candidate be subjected to particularly hostile questioning.
When French liberal Sylvie Goulard was rejected by the parliament during the 2019 hearings, it was seen as a tit-for-tat move, after a socialist and a centre-right nominee had failed to pass Parliament approval earlier in the process.
The second timeline would more often avoid single committees being present in multiple hearings at the same time, which may attract support from members of busier committees concerned about proper scrutiny of the candidates.
Last week, political leaders in Parliament decided on which committees would be hearing which commissioners-designate and opted for hearings to begin in November, with a new Commission possibly taking office in early December.
Should any commissioner-designate be rejected by Parliament, the starting date of the new Commission is expected to be postponed.
Thomas Moller-Nielsen contributed reporting.
[Edited by Rajnish Singh]
Source: euractiv.com
