Much ado about nothing
Euranet, 29.09.2014
Interview
The hearings of the 27 EU commissioners-designate by the members of the European Parliament, taking place from September 29 until October 7, may finally sound as the famous Shakespeare play: “Much ado about nothing” – basically a lot of noise for a small issue. During our monthly programme in collaboration with the Brussels-based European Policy Centre (EPC), Janis Emmanouilidis, Director of studies at EPC, felt that in the end the European Parliament will accept the new European Commission.
Each commissioner-designate will be grilled for three hours, responding to more than 40 questions.
Miguel Arias Cañete, the Spanish nominee set to deal with climate action and energy policy, is expected to face the toughest hearing. But also the Hungarian commissioner, Tibor Navracsics, in charge of culture and education, or even Jonhatan Hill, the British commissioner-designate for financial affairs, may face some uncomfortable questions.
So who does Emmanouilidis think is going to be rejected? His answer was simple and clear – nobody will be pushed out.
“A strong political actor”
Emmanouilids stressed that this new EU Commission would be “a strong political actor”.
The expert explained that by nominating a Greek man, Dimitris Avramopoulos, to be in charge of immigration policy, and a French one, Pierre Moscovici, to be in charge of economic affairs, Jean Claude Juncker, the European Commission’s president, was sending a strong political signal, saying to these men: “We trust you and we want you to play a key part in the EU” and so gave them a strong portfolio.
The European Parliament will make a final vote in order to approve or reject the whole Commission’s on October 22. The new European executive team is supposed to start working on November 1.
Listen to the whole interview here
Latest media contributions
EU's Von der Leyen to unveil trillion-euro recovery plan
Quotes, France 24, 27.05.2020
De la crise de 2008 à celle du coronavirus en 2020... Comment l'Union européenne a appris de ses erreurs
Quotes, La Libre Belgique, 26.05.2020
EPC Weekly Update – Franco-German proposal for €500bn 'recovery fund'; Single Market; industrial policy
Online Briefing, YouTube, 20.05.2020
Coronavirus : Paris et Berlin espèrent fédérer l’Europe autour de leur projet de relance
Quotes, La Croix, 19.05.2020
French-German Recovery Plan Faces Tough Brussels Test
Quotes, AFP, 19.05.2020
Η Ευρώπη της επόμενης ημέρας
Quotes, Kathimerini (GR), 17.05.2020
EPC Weekly Update EPC Weekly Update – Commission's tourism & transport package; German constitutional court; 'recovery instrument'; migration/asylum & Schengen
Online Briefing, YouTube, 15.05.2020
Debt Crisis, Brexit, Now Virus. Can the EU Survive?
Quotes, Bloomberg, 13.05.2020
Espresso oder Friseur – Europa öffnet nach dem Lockdown
Quotes, Deutsche Welle, 10.05.2020
EPC Weekly Update EPC Weekly Update – German constitutional court; recovery initiative; Brexit
Talkshow, YouTube, 08.05.2020