Strasbourg, 10 October 2024
The Legal Affairs Committee gave its green light for the confirmation hearings for all 26 Commissioners-designate to go ahead.
MEPs in the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) concluded the procedure of examining any conflicts of interest for the new Commissioners-designate in relation to their respective portfolios. The process will now proceed with the confirmation hearings, as each Commissioner-designate will be heard in their respective committees in accordance with the calendar agreed by the Parliament.
Declarations of interest submitted by the Commissioners-designate will become publicly available before the start of the confirmation hearings.
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Following the examination, Chair of the Legal Affairs Committee Ilhan Kyuchyuk (Renew, BG) said:
“The JURI Committee performed an impartial and in-depth analysis of the declarations of interest of the Commissioners-designate, looking at potential conflicts of interests with reference to the assigned portfolios. Whenever we deemed the information incomplete, we requested further details in order to assess all relevant elements and reach our conclusions. 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. But today, I want to express my gratitude to all Members of JURI for taking an active part in the process and safeguarding the interests not only of the Committee and Parliament – but also – the European citizens, through their thorough review of all data and information at our disposal. I am glad that JURI, together with all other parliamentary committees, will now be able to focus on the confirmation hearings of Commissioners-designate.”
Background
According to Parliament’s rules of procedure, the Legal Affairs Committee is responsible for assessing each commissioner-designate’ s potential or actual conflict of interests. This procedure is confidential and it is a precondition for a candidate to take part in the hearing in the European Parliament. The Legal Affairs Committee must confirm in writing the absence of any conflict of interest in order for the candidate to be heard by the relevant committee.
EP leaders adopt calendar for Commissioners-designate hearings
The Conference of Presidents decided on the detailed calendar for the hearings of Commissioners-designate.
The hearings will take place from 4 to 12 November. After the consultation of committee chairs, the European Parliament President and political group leaders adopted the detailed schedule of which Commissioner-designate will be heard by which committees and at which time slot.
European Parliament leaders also adopted the written questions prepared by the different committees that Commissioners-designate should reply to by 22 October 2024.
Each hearing will be followed by a meeting in which the Chairs of the Committees and group representatives (coordinators) concerned will evaluate the performance of the Commissioner-designate they just heard.
After the completion of the evaluation process, the Conference of Committee Chairs will assess the outcome of all hearings and forward its recommendation to the Conference of Presidents. The latter will exchange views and decide whether to close the hearings in its meeting on 21 November; it will also decide to place the vote on the College as a whole on the plenary agenda.
Plenary vote
The full Commission needs to be elected by a simple majority of the votes cast in plenary, by roll call. The vote is currently scheduled to take place during the (25-28) November session in Strasbourg.
Background
Annex VII of the EP Rules of Procedure specifies Parliament’s role in approving the European Commission and monitoring the commitments made during the hearings.
Current Rules of Procedures (in force as of July 2024) have been amended on 10 April 2024, as part of the wider reform of Parliament’s internal working methods, as endorsed by the Conference of Presidents in December 2023.