Romania has so
\nfar made three nominations for the position of European Transport Commissioner,
\na portfolio our country has been allotted in the new commission led by Ursula
\nvon der Leyen. The nominations were made by the outgoing Social-Democrat
\nGovernment and are unlikely to be confirmed. Rovana Plumb, the first to be
\nnominated, failed the integrity test in the legal committee due to her wealth
\ndeclaration. Dan Nica, a former Minister, didn’t even get to the hearing stage,
\nsince the Dancila Cabinet was in the meantime removed from office after failing
\na no-confidence motion in Parliament. The third nomination, the former Minister
\nDelegate for European Affairs, Victor Negrescu, raises the problem of
\nlegitimacy, as the nomination was made after the Government was demised. On
\nWednesday the European Commission spokesperson Mina Andreeva sided with the
\nstatement of President Klaus Iohannis, arguing the proposal made by outgoing Prime Minister Viorica Dancila does not have the approval and support of
\nPresident Iohannis, which raises serious doubts in Brussels over its
\nlegitimacy. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The EU official went on to say that the Commission can neither
\naccept nor refuse the proposal, and that the problem has to be settled in
\nRomania. Mina Andreeva recalled that, given all the challenges and
\nopportunities, it’s in everyone’s interest that the new Commission can get on
\ntrack without any further delays. Irrespective of who Romania’s candidate will
\nbe, he or she must be acceptable for the European Commission president elect,
\nUrsula von der Leyen, as well as obtain the necessary support in the European
\nParliament. The political crisis in Bucharest, which led to the demise of the
\nDancila Cabinet, now risks affecting the formation and functioning of the new
\nEuropean Commission. At first, Romania was not the only member state whose
\ncandidate raised questions pertaining to integrity. France and Hungary too
\nsubmitted candidates who were originally accepted by Ursula von der Leyen, but
\nwho fell foul of Parliament’s JURI and specialized committees. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The rejection of
\nthe Romanian, Hungarian and French candidates in various stages of the hearing
\nprocess will mean the new Commission will take office no sooner than December.
\nConsequently, Ursula von der Leyen has piled up pressure on Romania to submit a
\nnew candidate. It is so far unclear who is rightfully entitled to make this
\nnomination, given that the Social-Democratic Government was removed from
\noffice, and the new Liberal Government has not yet been sworn in. The investiture vote is scheduled for November
\n4.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
(Translated by
\nV. Palcu)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Without the president’s approval, Romania’s third nomination for the position of European commissioner was met with great reluctance in Brussels<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":83518,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[39798,39799,35307,32548,33035],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-83517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-european-commissioner-proposals","tag-integrity-issues","tag-ursula-von-der-leyen","tag-victor-negrescu","tag-viorica-dancila"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n