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In what Le Figaro terms "a rare chance for the European Parliament to emulate the US Congress," over the next eight days, 26 commissioners designated by member states will be required to attend individual 3-hour long hearings before the assembled members of the European Parliament, in which they will be obliged to provide answers to some very precise questions. The exercise, designed to evaluate the skills of candidates, also focuses on their commitment to Europe, and their appropriateness for nomination to the commission. Once the hearings have been completed, MEPs will formally appoint the future commissioners, whose mandate will continue until 2014. They also have the option of rejecting the new line-up, which would force Commission President José Manuel Barroso, and Europe's member states to propose a new batch of candidates. "It is one of the high points in the life of any European Parliament (…). The MEPs have a powerful tool for exercising political and democratic control. Imagine if the Belgian Parliament was given the opportunity to interrogate future cabinet ministers before approving their appointment," remarks La Libre Belgique. As Le Figaro points out, "the individual public evaluations, which are exceedingly rare on the European side of the Atlantic" will also offer candidates and MEPs an opportunity "to indulge in some real political theatre," For once, the 736 MEPs will have a chance "to assert authority over the 27 European national governments who choose the commissioners designate; and over the Commission President, who attributes the portfolios."
The hearings are not a mere formality, but as Warsaw daily Polska remarks, an occasion when "the diplomatic smokescreen is barely sufficient to hide a boiling cauldron of emotion." For some the candidates, "the Q&A sessions will be particularly gruelling," explains România libera, commenting on the nomination of "Romanian Dacian Ciolos for the portfolio of Agriculture, and Bulgarian Rumiana Jeleva, the designate for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response." Ciolos will have to "reconcile the interests of conservatives, who support direct subsidies to farmers, and liberals, who advocate the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy," while Rumiana Jeleva will almost certainly face questions about her husband, and his alleged links to the Bulgarian mafia. According to *Polska*, Slovak Maroš Šefčovič, designate for Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration, may also come under fire. The Polish daily reports that as a graduate of the prestigious Moscow State Institute of International Relations, which was allegedly a KGB incubator, he has already been harshly criticized by members of the EPP (European People's Party) who formally oppose the "appointment to the European Commission of someone with a history of links to an authoritarian regime." At the same time, Euobserver.com remarks that "the session with Internal Market and Services nomination Michel Barnier will be closely followed by the British press, which is eager to see if the French man will impose restrictive measures on the City financial centre."
First in line for the hearing sessions, Commission Vice President and High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Catherine Ashton, is likely to caught in "crossfire from British Eurosceptics, who will target her as a member of the British Labour Party, and Continental Euro-enthusiasts," who Le Figaroreports "are reluctant to accept an English politician at the head of Europe's diplomatic service." However, if one of the designates is deemed to be unacceptable, the President of the Commission is unlikely to insist on the appointment. " Le Figaro is convinced that José Manuel Barroso will want to avoid any repeat of the near fiasco in 2004, when his attempt to push through the appointment of Italian Rocco Buttiglione - a Justice commissioner designate with retrograde views on homosexuality - almost resulted in the outright rejection of the entire commission line-up. The team was only approved when the Italian candidate was withdrawn.
