Commissioners-designate, i. e. the Commissioners proposed by the President-elect of the European Commission, must be approved by the European Parliament. That’s why they appear in front of the respective parliamentary committees. Once the team is approved, the European Parliament will confirm the new Commission as a whole during a plenary session.
Following the hearings, DG MEME found out that many committee’s sentences could be as well used in other (more intimate) situations. Here’s our top ten:
“That’s a huge portfolio!”
It refers to the dimension of the area of responsibility assigned to a Commissioner
“Trust me, your experience with foreign tongues is appreciated”
It is cool to have a Commissioner that speaks many languages
“Do we really need to do this in front of the journalists?”
Some questions during the hearing are quite private (e. g. “Where’s the money?”)
“In this position we must balance Research and Innovation”
Some (political) positions are more daring than others
“Let’s protect ourselves against new European (way of) Life”
Protectionism is often underestimated
“I would prefer not to deal with small and medium enterprises”
Some commissioners focus on big concerns
“We will apply the one-in, one-out principle”
Every new rule should relieve an equivalent existing rule at EU level in the same policy area
“We shall involve a broad range of stakeholders”
The result is usually better when more people are involved
“How do you look upon further enlargementOutside the EU Bubble, the term is used by anyone who wishes to undergo surgery in order to increase their attractiveness visavi potential sexual partners. Within said bubble, enlargement means adding more countries to the 28 27 of the European Union, thus promoting their status from third country to member...?”
Check out the glossary term
“Let me finish, please”
Sometimes the allowed time (2 minutes) is just not enough