The future European Commission faces delays

European Commission awaits new proposals from France, Romania and Hungary after their nominees are rejected.

Leyla Cheamil, 11.10.2019, 13:50

The team of European commissioners
proposed by the EU member states is yet to be complete. This is why the
president-elect of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday called
on all those involved in the process to act swiftly, after the nominees put
forward by Romania, Hungary and France did not go past the committees of the
European Parliament. We are currently in a democratic and transparent
parliamentary process. I have proposed 26 candidates, 23 of whom have now been
accepted. Three candidates did not obtain majority support for varied reasons.
Therefore, the nominations for Hungary, Romania and France are still open, Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement.

Ursula von der Leyen made these comments after
France’s pick, Sylvie Goulard, on Thursday failed for the second time to
convince the European MPs during hearings in the European Parliament’s
specialist committees. Her nomination has been plagued by suspicions regarding
her integrity, in the context of ongoing inquiries into alleged fake jobs at her
Euro MP office and her activity for an American think-tank while serving as a
member of the European Parliament. The French president Emmanuel Macron was
quick to react to Goulard’s rejection saying she is the victim of a political
game.

Romania’s and Hungary’s picks, Rovana Plumb and
Laszlo Trocsanyi respectively, have also been rejected by the European
Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs over suspicions of conflict of
interest. Under the current schedule, the European Parliament must vote on the
make-up and programme of the Commission proposed by Ursula von der Leyen in the
period between the 21st and the 24th of October, for the
Commission to be able to take office on the 1st of November.