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Maros Sefcovic will be heard by the European Parliament committees on November 4

by AI | 10.Oct 2024 | Europe in brief AI

Slovak European Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič will be heard by the committees of the European Parliament as the first on November 4.

Slovak European Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič will be heard in the committees of the European Parliament on November 4. Photo: TASR

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Brussels/Bratislava – The Slovak candidate for a member of the future European Commission (EC) Maroš Šefčovič is scheduled to undergo a hearing before the members of the European Parliament’s (EP) committees on the afternoon of November 4. The EP announced this on Thursday, reports TASR.

The hearings of the candidates for Ursula von der Leyen’s future Commission will take place from November 4 to 12.

Šefčovič is to be given the portfolio for trade and economic security in the new European Commission, and he will also be responsible for interinstitutional relations and transparency. He will be the first of all the designated Eurocommissioners to be heard, and he will be especially heard by the Committee on International Trade (INTA) and the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, but members of the Foreign Affairs Committee (AFET), the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO), the Petitions Committee (PETI), the Development Committee (DEVE), and the Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) are also invited.

The Conference of Presidents of the EP has prepared written questions for the nominees for Eurocommissioners based on inputs from the committees, which they are to answer by October 22.

The structure of the hearings in the committee is set – it will be opened by the chairman of the committee with a brief statement, after which the candidate for commissioner will get a 15-minute time slot for an introductory speech, where he will present himself and his main priorities. This will be followed by questions from the committee members.

After each hearing, the chairman and coordinators of the committee will prepare a recommendation or an evaluation letter. They cannot legally reject an individual candidate, the committee can only indicate in some way that the candidate did not convince them, and in such a composition, the EP would not support the Commission as a whole. This can create pressure on the EC president to ask the relevant state to propose a new candidate or to redistribute the portfolios differently.

When all the candidates for Eurocommissioners have been heard, the EP will vote on the EC as a whole at the next plenary session – not on individual commissioners. After the demanding candidate selection process, it is unlikely that the College of Commissioners would not pass the vote. If that were to happen, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, would again have to ask the member states for nominations, propose a new team of commissioners, redistribute the portfolios anew, and the whole process would be repeated.

A majority of the votes cast by MEPs is needed to approve the EC. If approved by the European Parliament, the Eurocommissioners will take office the month following the vote.

According to the current plan, the European Parliament is to vote on the new Commission at its plenary session in Strasbourg from November 25 to 28. (October 10)

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