At 9:30 am on Thursday morning, the EU Parliament's Legal Committee began its part of the examination of the 26 individuals nominated for five years in Ursula von der Leyen's next EU Commission.
Under the leadership of Bulgarian liberal Ilhan Kjutjuk, the committee will investigate potential conflicts of interest or other issues that make the nominees unsuitable for their jobs.
According to Italian news agency Ansa, the committee has requested additional information from ten nominees.
However, the examination is not very advanced. Criticism is harsh that the committee is working behind closed doors and has to settle for assessing what the nominees themselves have reported.
"Partisan, opaque, and powerless. In short: a masquerade," French MEP Manon Aubry, leader of the parliament's left-wing group, tweeted.
Roswall in the Environment Committee
After the 2019 EU election, the Legal Committee stopped both Romania's and Hungary's first-choice candidates due to question marks over million-dollar loans and companies with government connections.
This year, the plan is for the committee to have completed its examination by October 18 at the latest. The public, televised hearings of the candidates will then begin in early November.
Swedish Jessika Roswall, who is proposed to be responsible for the environment and water resilience, will be questioned by the Environment Committee (Envi) and should also prepare for extra questions from the committees for agriculture, industry, and the internal market.
The schedule for who will be examined when will be clear only next week.
Political Struggles
The hearings are expected to be even tougher than before. Relations are strained between the large party groups in the middle, while the far-right has grown in strength. This sets the stage for heated hearings.
Jessika Roswall can, for example, expect tough questions about her view on EU laws on nature restoration and deforestation, where a bitter struggle is raging between right and left.
At the same time, she is not mentioned among the candidates who are expected to face the toughest questioning. However, for example, Cypriot Costas Kadis, Italian Raffaele Fitto, and Bulgarian Ekaterina Zacharjeva would do well to prepare for a tough grilling.
On October 10, the EU Parliament's group leaders are expected to finalize the exact order for the committee hearings that each nominated EU Commissioner will face.
Between two and six three-hour hearings per day will be held on November 4-12. At the hearings, members from up to four different committees will participate, depending on the tasks the nominees are proposed to receive.
Afterwards, the nominees may be given additional written questions or called in for extra hearings. If they are still not approved, their member states will need to nominate replacements, who will also be examined in the same way.
According to plans, a vote on the new Commission in the entire Parliament will then take place at the end of November.
