MEPs grill candidates who will drive policy for the next 5 years

Nominees for some of the European Union’s top jobs face parliamentary hearings on Monday, as lawmakers start to vet would-be commissioners to oversee Europe-wide policies ranging from agriculture to trade for the next five years.

Four of the 26 new members of the EU’s increasingly powerful executive branch, the European Commission, will each undergo a three-hour grilling by senior MEPs most closely linked to their policy files. The others will be heard through to November 12.

The commission is the only EU body with the power to draft laws which, once passed by the European Parliament and the 27 member countries. They cover everything from water quality to data protection to competition or migration policy.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, now into her second term leading an institution with more than 33,000 employees, assembled her new-look executive in September, seeking to balance sensitive political, geographical and gender concerns.

The candidates, who are nominated by their national governments, must prove their general competence to handle their portfolio, a commitment to the European project, independence and good communications skills.

The tone for the hearings could be set as soon as Monday. A first candidate to make his case will be Glenn Micallef – the would-be commissioner for youth, culture and sport – who hails from Malta, the EU’s smallest country.

He’s been branded a political lightweight, compared to the former ministers and premiers nominated to Von der Leyen’s team. Micallef is backed by the center-left Socialists and Democrats, the second biggest political family in Parliament.

A chain reaction could be set off should he be rejected by the other political groups and the socialists seek revenge.

After each hearing, an evaluation is made by senior lawmakers behind closed doors. Candidates must win a two-thirds majority vote. If they don’t, the parliamentarians can ask additional questions in writing or request a further 90-minute grilling.

The vote results should remain secret until the entire hearing process ends next week. But given the high political stakes for each party group, lawmakers or parliament officials are almost certain to leak the news. [AP]