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Brussels (ANSA) – After days of waiting, negotiations, and tensions, the hearings of the 26 EU commissioner candidates begin this afternoon. This is the second-to-last step, but the most important one, on the path to formalizing the new European executive led by Ursula von der Leyen. The hearings will be held from Monday to Thursday for the commissioner candidates, November 12 for the six candidates for executive vice presidency, including Raffaele Fitto.
Of the 26 candidates, fourteen are from the EPP, 5 liberals, 4 socialists, one from ECR, one is a member of the Patriots and one is running as an independent. The outgoing Maros Sefcovic – Slovak, confirmed as an independent by Prime Minister Robert Fico despite the latter’s sovereignist shift – and the Maltese socialist Glenn Micallef, the youngest among the candidates, will start the exams at the European Parliament.
The hearings begin at 2:30 pm, last three hours, and involve the relevant parliamentary committees, namely those dealing with the same subjects assigned to the candidate. Sefcovic is a candidate for Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, Micallef for Culture.
At the end of the hearing, a candidate needs the approval of 2/3 of the group coordinators in the voting committees to pass. If the quorum is not reached, MEPs can ask for additional written questions or a new hearing. Even in this case, the necessary quorum is 2/3 of the coordinators.
If it is not reached, the candidate is voted on by secret ballot by all members of the relevant committees, with a simple majority as the quorum (November 4).
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