Cliffhanger over EU commissioners-designate
At the hearings currently taking place in the European Parliament, the candidacies of three commissioners-designate are under dispute. Raffaele Fitto is controversial owing to his affiliation with the right-wing populist Fratelli d'Italia, Olivér Várhelyi must face further questions before being signed off, and Spain's conservative People's Party says Teresa Ribera is partly responsible for the catastrophic consequences of the flash floods in Spain. Commentators discuss potential outcomes.
Avoiding the facts
La Vanguardia finds the conservatives' strategy of boycotting commissioner-designate Teresa Ribera Rodríguez pathetic:
“The PP is casting about for ways to take the spotlight off the president of the Valencian region, Carlos Mazón, for his inaction in the tragic floods and therefore decided to shift blame to the government's third vice-president, Teresa Ribera. Attempts are being made to hold her to account for other people's mistakes. ... It would be better to present the stark reality. A mistake was made. We failed. It won't do any good to mess around with excuses. ... It could not be clearer where the responsibility lies, but the PP is overshooting the mark and now even taking its attempts to shirk responsibility to the European Parliament.”
Getting dicey for Ursula too now
This row could call von der Leyen's entire presidency into question, says La Repubblica:
“This tug-of-war jeopardises the very existence of the new EU executive. For two reasons. Firstly, if Ribera and Várhelyi are indeed rejected, the launch of von der Leyen's team would be postponed indefinitely. Prime Ministers Orbán and Sánchez would, for opposing reasons, gain time to punish the head of the Commission. Secondly, without the [social democratic] S&D and the Greens, there would be a shortfall of almost two hundred votes when the entire parliament comes to the chamber for the final vote of confidence. It will be hard to offset this with votes from the ECR, Patriots and AfD [Europe of Sovereign Nations] factions.”
Kallas is passionate about Ukraine
Journalist Raimo Poom analyses in Eesti Päevaleht the performance of Estonia's candidate for High Representative/Vice-President for foreign affairs Kaja Kallas:
“Kallas was undoubtedly most convincing when it came to opposing Russian aggression and supporting Ukraine in EU foreign policy. ... Given the vacuum of knowledge about what Trump and his administration plan to do, Kallas took a smart approach. She did not mince her words but at the same time promised to continue working with Europe's most important ally. ... When the questions went beyond these topics, there was a noticeable decline in Kallas's enthusiasm and the substance of her answers.”
We should have these at the national level, too
Aftonbladet is full of praise for the hearings system:
“The long hearings are a wonderful democratic tool. If you were of legal age at the time of the EU elections, you had the chance to elect the MEPs who can now vote against the EU commissioners. Members of Sweden's Riksdag don't get to grill ministerial candidates about what they plan to do during their term of office. They can't squeeze political promises out of them and say 'No thanks, next please!' if they don't deliver. These hearings are not just a meaningless formality.”
A strong woman for the issue of expansion
Delo comments on the confirmation of the Slovenian candidate, who was nominated at short notice:
“Marta Kos got through the hearing in the European Parliament without major difficulties. ... The candidate, who was described by many as one of the weakest at the time of her nomination, passed the test with flying colours and secured broad support. It will be a difficult task to prepare this Union full of internal contradictions and complex decision-making processes for further enlargement. Ursula von der Leyen is aware that the enlargement policy needs to be convincing for citizens. There is little awareness in the old member states of how much they have benefited from the accession of new countries since 2004.”
Not an attractive target
Lidové noviny explains why Jozef Síkela, the Czech commissioner-designate for international partnerships, had no problems in his hearing:
“Síkela didn't have too hard a time. He's not a particularly attractive target for those seeking to reject a commissioner. Firstly, he comes from a country which is not very important and not engaged in any major dispute with Europe or other member states. Secondly, while important, the international cooperation portfolio is hard to explain to the public. Moreover, it has very little influence on the bloc's internal affairs. There's no glory in torpedoing a candidate for such a post.”