When and how MEPs will quiz the would-be EU commissioners

The EU Parliament has organised public hearings from 4-12 November to grill the future commissioners' suitabilities for their new jobs and knowledge of their assigned portfolios — before the new EU commission takes office.

The detailed schedule (see list below) of the hearings was adopted by the leaders of political groups and the president of the European Parliament on Thursday (10 October).

This follows the European Parliament’s legal affairs committee’s (JURI) examination of all declarations of interest of commissioner designates to ensure there were no conflicts of interest. This process, which started last week behind closed doors, was a prerequisite for the hearings to take place.

All declarations of interest will be publicly available before the start of the confirmation hearings.

Commissioner nominees must declare any assets over €10,000 and disclose memberships in associations, political parties, trade unions, NGOs, or other organisations that might influence their public duties.

According to media reports, only three commissioner-designates were initially cleared: Wopke Hoekstra (Dutch candidate for climate, net zero, and clean growth), Piotr Serafin (Poland’s candidate for budget, anti-fraud, and public administration), and Olivér Várhelyi (Hungary’s candidate for health and animal welfare).

This means that JURI had requested additional information from 23 other commissioner-designates.

The examination of financial declarations, however, has faced criticism. The head of the Left, Manon Aubry, recently described it as a “fake process” that does not allow MEPs to carry out a thorough assessment.

“From a procedural point of view, some reasonable criticism of the legal framework can arise and we will have the opportunity to analyse it and suggest amendments if needed,” Bulgarian MEP and JURI chair Ilhan Kyuchyuk responded in a statement.

Approval not guaranteed  

Each candidate must attend a live-streamed three-hour-long hearing in front of the parliamentary committee or committees responsible for the portfolio they have been assigned. 

Parliament's committees involved in each of the hearings can submit a series of written questions in advance to the candidates, which must be responded to at least 48 hours before the start of the hearings. The number of questions of each committee depends on the number of committees participating in the hearing.

After the hearing, the chair and coordinators of the committee responsible for the hearing draft an approval or rejection letter for each commissioner. 

But approval is not guaranteed.

In the past, some hearings have led to the withdrawal of a candidate or a change in their portfolios, mostly because of the nominee's lack of knowledge of their subject area. 

Back in 2019, MEPs rejected three candidates for commissioner: Romania's Rovana Plumb, Hungary's László Trócsányi and France's Sylvie Goulard.

Earlier, in 2014, Hungarian nominee Tibor Navracsics was approved as commissioner designate, but not for the portfolio that outgoing EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker gave him.

After the hearings

Before the commission takes office, parliament needs to give the green light (by a simple majority in a plenary vote). Once parliament has given its consent, the European Council officially appoints the European Commission.

While the commission aims to take office early in December, this date might be postponed to later in January should one or several nominees be rejected.

Detailed timeline:

MONDAY, 4 NOVEMBER – 4 HEARINGS:

(14:30 - 17:30): Sefcovic (INTA/AFCO) — (AFET, IMCO, PETI, DEVE, JURI)

(14:30 - 17:30): Micallef (CULT) — (EMPL, LIBE, JURI)

(18:30 - 21:30): Hansen (AGRI) — (ENVI, PECH)

(18:30 - 21:30): Tzitzikostas (TRAN) — (ENVI)

TUESDAY, 5 NOVEMBER – 6 HEARINGS:

(09:00 - 12:00): McGrath (LIBE/IMCO/JURI) — (AFCO, CULT, BUDG, CONT, FEMM)

(09:00 - 12:00): Zaharieva (ITRE) — (CULT)

(14:30 - 17:30): Jorgensen (ITRE/EMPL) — (ENVI, REGI, IMCO, ECON)

(14:30 - 17:30): Suica (AFET) — (EMPL, LIBE, DRO!)

(18:30 - 21:30): Roswall (ENVI) — (IMCO, ITRE, AGRI)

(18:30 - 21:30): Brunner (LIBE) — (DEVE)

WEDNESDAY, 6 NOVEMBER – 6 HEARINGS:

(09:00 - 12:00): Lahbib (DEVE/FEMM/LIBE/ENVI) — (EMPL, SANT)

(09:00 - 12:00): Albuquerque (ECON) — (IMCO, LIBE)

(14:30 - 17:30): Kadis (PECH) — (ENVI)

(14:30 - 17:30): Sikela (DEVE) — (AFET, FEMM, INTA, LIBE)

(18:30 - 21:30): Kubilius (AFET/ITRE) — (TRAN, SEDE)

(18:30 - 21:30): Varhelyi (ENVI/AGRI) — (ITRE, SANT)

THURSDAY, 7 NOVEMBER – 4 HEARINGS:

(09:00 - 12:00): Hoekstra (ENVI/ITRE/ECON) — (EMPL, TRAN, FISC)

(09:00 - 12:00): Kos (AFET) — (LIBE, AFCO, DROI)

(14:30 - 17:30): Serafin (BUDG/CONT) — (LIBE, JURI)

(14:30 - 17:30): Dombrovskis (ECON/JURI) — (BUDG, AFCO, EMPL, IMCO, FISC)

TUESDAY, 12 NOVEMBER – 6 HEARINGS:

(09:00 - 12:00): Fitto (REGI) — (TRAN, BUDG, AGRI, PECH, EMPL, ECON)

(09:00 - 12:00): Kallas (AFET) — (DEVE, INTA, FEMM, SEDE, DROI)

(14:30 - 17:30): Minzatu (EMPL/CULT) — (FEMM, LIBE)

(14:30 - 17:30): Séjourné (ITRE/IMCO/ENVI/CONT) — (INTA, EMPL, BUDG, JURI)

(18:30 - 21:30): Ribera (ENVI/ECON/ITRE) — (IMCO, EMPL, TRAN, REGI, AGRI)

(18:30 - 21:30): Virkkunen (ITRE/IMCO) — (LIBE, JURI, AFET, SEDE, CULT)