The Dutch EU commissioner Frans Timmermans has received the official green light from the European Parliament, as expected, to serve as the first vice-president of the European Commission under Ursula von der Leyen for the next five years. From 1 November, the Dutchman will be responsible for European climate policy, among other things.
A three-hour hearing did not put Timmermans in trouble on Tuesday evening despite a number of critical questions. The coordinators of the political groups in the parliament gave the redeeming word on Wednesday. & #8220; He is the right man for the job. & #8221;
Most of the large parties in the European Parliament gave their support to the PvdA politician, but not the Dutchmen of the FvD and the Dierenfeest.
The Janusz Wojciechowski Pole can still become an agricultural commissioner. Previously, the European Parliament was still dissatisfied with its actions during its hearing. Wojciechowski's first hearing did not go well. In the successful re-examination, Wojciechowski spoke about the requirements of a fairly distributed agricultural budget.
According to the Dutch MEP Jan Huitema (VVD), Wojciechowski has overhauled his re-examination with heels.
With that, only the position of the French candidate Sylvie Goulard is not yet clear. This French politician was Minister of Defense for a month under President Macron, but there are (big?) N objections in the European Parliament about some affairs in which she became involved in French politics. Goulard must now & #8211; just like the Polish candidate & #8211; for a public oral re-exam.
In the corridors in Brussels, some critics call the & #8216; dangling & #8217; of the French candidate mainly seen as & #8216; a little Macron bullying & #8217 ;. It was he who, from the start of the election campaign, at the end of last year, already made it clear that he should have none of the so-called & #8216; pointed candidate formula & #8217; of the European Parliament.
In it, the political leaders of the large EP political groups agreed that the new President of the European Commission (the successor to Jean-Claude Jüncker) can only be a politician who has himself been on a list of candidates. With this, the European Parliament wanted to keep some grip on the choice of the new president, on the recommendation of the EU heads of government.
In his resistance, Macron received sufficient support from other prime ministers and presidents, so that the candidates of Christian Democrats (Manfred Weber) and Social Democrats (Frans Timmermans) for the top function were passed, and the European Parliament could only watch in protest. Sylvie Goulard may now be presented with the bill ...