BRUSSELS (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – In November, the European Parliament will hold hearings for its members.
Hearings for European Union commissioners are increasingly likely to be held from November 4 to November 12 after a majority of European Parliament committee chairs approved those dates on Tuesday.
The final decision is expected to be made on Wednesday at the Council of Presidents (CoP), the highest decision-making body of the National Assembly. Another option is to start hearings in mid-October.
Holding hearings in November would give the committee the earliest date it could begin work in early December. It could be postponed to January if parliament rejects several candidates and EU capitals are forced to appoint successors.
Bernd Lange, a German member of parliament who heads the Council of Committee Chairmen (CCC), “summarized” Tuesday’s meeting and said he would “bring both proposals to the CoP, emphasizing a clear majority in the CCC in November,” two parliamentary officials said. said.
Who supports the proposal for a mid-October hearing?
The only coalition pushing for a mid-October start date is the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), the home base of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. But the EPP was unable to garner enough support as lawmakers want to make sure they have enough time to scrutinize commissioner nominees before hearings.
“(EPP Chairman Manfred) Weber wants a hearing in October, but he is isolated and there is no majority,” an EPP MEP said.
How is committee review scheduled prior to the hearing?
According to the current draft program, the final deadline for the committee to send written questions to candidates is October 10, with responses due by October 22. Candidates will appear before the National Assembly Legal Affairs Committee before October 18 for review. The Policy Committee will screen candidate candidates for possible conflicts of interest from November 4 to 12.
The CCC also reviewed which committees would handle which portfolios. One of the officials mentioned above said during a hearing by the Commissioner for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy, Stéphane Sejeune, that the Economic Committee, along with the Industry, Internal Market and Environment Committee, had demanded to be affected.
