The ins and outs of approving EU Commissioners
EU member states have not helped European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in her quest for a gender-balanced EU executive, with now little time left to weigh up all the factors that would make her new line-up pass parliamentary scrutiny.
European capitals officially have until Friday (30 August) to designate the candidates whom they will send to Brussels, with only three countries – Belgium, Bulgaria and Italy – left to announce their respective picks as of Wednesday (28 August).
However, despite von der Leyen’s pledge to form a gender-balanced Commission, only seven of the 27 EU member states have proposed a female candidate.
And with her new college of commissioners and their matching portfolios due to be presented to the leaders of the European Parliament’s political groups on 11 September, time to make changes is also running out, parliamentary sources told Euractiv.
A different power position
In order to ensure that her new EU executive passes parliamentary scrutiny, meets the ambitions of national governments, and is in line with her own vision, von der Leyen has started interviewing candidates individually as of this week.
But the lack of women on the ticket, which parliamentary sources told Euractiv is of particular concern to the Greens and Socialists, and the fact that the European Parliament’s internal rules require MEPs to consider gender balance, could come back to haunt the re-appointed Commission chief.
Compared to when she was first elected for the job five years ago, and member states largely followed her call for two – or at least more female – candidates, this time around, EU capitals have widely ignored her request.
Her strength back then mainly came from the fact that von der Leyen had the backing of the bloc’s two biggest member states, Germany and France, party insiders suggest.
This time around, she does not command as much power to make demands without being able to rely on a strong mandate of these heavyweights backing up her requests.
Another caveat, according to people familiar with the process, is that she is likely to refrain from asking capitals to submit another, additional female name, as this could risk some of them being ‘burned’ at the political level.
While the task will be to tailor portfolios to the ambitions of national governments, von der Leyen will also have to try to satisfy political families despite the looming dominance of the EPP-appointed commissioners in the new EU executive.
For the EU executive’s new team to be sworn in, the European Parliament must give its stamp of approval, for which MEPs closely scrutinise the commissioners-designate’s knowledge of the policy area for which they will be responsible.
In theory, they are supposed to be ‘colour-blind’, unlike the governments that appoint them. In reality, the past term has shown how several countries – such as Hungary, Poland or France – have, to some extent, played a power game with their files.
While having to cater to the wishes of the larger EU member states and their supporters, the allocation of portfolios lies within von der Leyen’s discretion.
Euractiv also understands that former Italian prime minister Mario Draghi will take part in the European Parliament’s conference of presidents on 5 September, where he is expected to present his much-awaited report on competitiveness, expected to influence the structure of the EU executive’s future economic portfolios.
Timelines might change
In the currently unlikely event that all commissioner-designates make it through the hearing process unscathed, the new EU executive could take office as early as 1 November.
However, if at least one candidate is rejected, the date would be pushed back to 1 December, and in the worst-case scenario, if further concerns about the candidates arise, the new Commission would have to wait until 1 January.
In more recent selection processes, the European Parliament has rejected two to three commissioners during the hearing process. In 2019, the EU Parliament sent the Hungarian, French and Romanian nominees back to their respective capitals during the vetting process.
EU lawmakers sharpen their knives
Although most EU lawmakers have only just returned from the summer recess, their entourage is preparing to grill the candidates.
Parliamentary hearings are expected to start in the third week of September and will include three elements: Examining the commissioner-designate’s declarations of interest, submitting written questions to them and holding a joint hearing of the committee(s) responsible for the respective portfolios.
First, the European Parliament’s legal affairs committee will scrutinise the personal declarations of the commissioner-designates and examine the candidates’ personal finances for signs of conflicts of interest. In 2019, both Hungary’s and Romania’s first choices fell at this first hurdle.
While it sifts through the candidates’ personal finances, each of the committees corresponding to the new commissioners’ portfolios will prepare written questions.
The answers will guide the EU lawmakers’ line of questioning when candidates appear before the respective committee for three-hour sessions in which MEPs take turns to grill the future commissioners on their experience and knowledge of their portfolio. Where policy competencies overlap, several committees will be involved.
Most political groups in the European Parliament task assistants in their respective secretariats with drafting questions for MEPs. While individual MEPs ultimately ask the questions, group coordinators play a crucial role in orchestrating the line of questioning during hearings.
After the often lengthy questioning, EU lawmakers meet again to decide whether to confirm or reject a candidate. In this case, the country must nominate another person for the post.
Once all the 26 commissioners-designate, with the exception of von der Leyen herself, have been given the green light by EU lawmakers, the new EU executive as a whole will be put to a plenary vote.
Just like in June, it will need the blessing of half of all MEPs, 361, before it can take up its work.
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