Roxana Mînzatu, heard by MEPs   

European MPs heard Roxana Mînzatu, Romania’s candidate for Vice-President for the People, Skills and Preparedness portfolio.

Roxana Vasile, 13.11.2024, 14:00

European MPs heard Roxana Mînzatu, Romania’s candidate for Vice-President for the People, Skills and Preparedness portfolio.

ʺIt was an intense hearing, the most complex exam of my life – three hours, about 50 questions. But, at the end, I received hugs, applause… I imagine, however, that we have to wait for the results of the vote, so that I can understand how it wasʺ Roxana Mînzatu told the Romanian press, after the hearing in the expert committees of the European Parliament. On the last day of the marathon hearings in Brussels for the future European Commission makeup, headed by Ursula von der Leyen, it was Minzatu’s turn to answer the questions. She is Romania’s candidate for the position of Vice-President for the People, Skills and Preparedness portfolio, which also includes  the broader spectrum of preparing society and individuals for moments of crisis. The term “crisis” includes not only wars or weather disasters, but also the green transition, digitization and social crises.

Roxana Mînzatu says that the European Union has the most balanced and efficient social model in the world, but also has its flaws, and some of them are getting deeper. Or, in the first year of her mandate, she would like to organize a broad consultation with all social actors in the member states, from governments and trade unions, to youth organizations and ordinary citizens, after which conclusions should be drawn about what people want in terms of crisis preparedness, professional training, education or workplace conditions. Following this dialogue, Roxana Mînzatu says that she wants to undertake actions oriented on three pillars. The first would be education and professional training, with fair access for all, but also with the continuous adjustment of the education system and resources to the economic and social reality. The second pillar of the program proposed by Roxana Mînzatu aims at quality jobs, with adequate wages and good conditions, and here she wants to redefine the European Pact for Social Rights.

Finally, the third pillar represents social justice, with the general objective of helping those who need it the most. The questions that the MEPs asked Roxana Mânzatu did not only concern the policies and ideas that she will put into practice from the position of vice-president of the European Commission, but also some personal housing matters, which, in the absence of convincing answers, could have overshadowed her candidacy for the position of European Commission. The next step, after the hearing of Roxana Mânzatu and of the other five candidates for the positions of vice-presidents, is their endorsement, so that at the end of November the new European Commission makeup can be voted on, in Strasbourg, in the European Parliament’s plenary.