(Photo: ©European Parliament/Pietro Naj-Oleari/Flickr) The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union, and the European Commissioners are some of the most powerful figures in Europe. Under the Lisbon Treaty which has just come into force, the Commission composes 27 members, one for each member state: the president and 26 Commissioners in charge of a portfolio. The European Parliament has to approve the new Commission before it takes office. Between 11th – 19th of January it will hold hearings of each of the nominated Commissioners, then there will be a plenary debate on the commission on the 26th of January, before a vote the same day. European Alternatives thinks the Commission posts should in the future be selected by the European political parties, not by the member states, and that the Commission should be more accountable to the people of Europe than at present. Ensuring rigorous public vetting of the Commissioners in the parliamentary hearings and then ensuring the Commissioners live up to their pledges is a first step towards this. We will update this page throughout the hearings with commentary on what has been said. The hearings can be watched live online at EuroparlTV: Latest Updates: INTERNAL MARKET AND SERVICES MICHEL BARNIER HEARING The nominated commissioner for Internal Market and Services, Michel Barnier of the European People's Party, has been called a 'French left-leaning Gaullist' by the leader of the socialists in the European parliament, Martin Schulz, thereby claiming that he may as well be a socialist. After the hearing it seems like either Schulz has quite a right-leaning understanding of socialism, or he was simply trying to score a political point against the largest party in parliament. Still, Barnier made it clear he is in favour of European regulation of the market, and also seemed to add his voice to the growing consensus amongst the Commission designates in favour of a financial transaction tax. Barnier supports the idea that the funds should be used for combating climate change. ENLARGEMENT AND NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICY STEFAN FUELE HEARING During the hearing of Catherine Ashton, many MEPs asked why neighbourhood policy was not in her brief as high representative for foreign affairs, and whether she thought creating a separate post would pose a problem. Having seen Ashton's lackluster performance and the confident performance of Stefan Fuele, many MEPs may now be thinking it is a good thing. Fuele came out strongly in favour of Turkey's membership of the EU once it is ready, which is a welcome objection to those who think that Europe should remain a 'Christian club'. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION, HUMANITARIAN AID and CRISIS RESPONSE RUMIANA JELEVA HEARING The commission nomination for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response looks likely to be the first casualty of the parliament hearings: she was unable to respond to allegations of breaking Bulgarian law by carrying on business activities whilst an elected representative. The parliamentary hearing nearly broke down as allegations were circulated amongst the parliamentarians in only German and Bulgarian, leading to protests that the procedure was becoming unfair. Jeleva's business affairs will now be investigated by the parliament. Independently of the allegations, Jeleva offered weak answers and showed both a lack of knowledge and a slight contempt for her responsibilities: asked to comment on the situation in Congo for example, she replied that it is the responsibility of lower ranking officials to comment on specific circumstances. Asked about the humanitarian crisis Gulf of Arden (between Somalia and Yemen), she did not seem to know where it was. Many MEPs were highly disappointed. So far Jeleva is refusing to withdraw her candidacy and Barroso has jet to withdraw her nomination, but the pressure will surely grow. JUSTICE, FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AND CITIZENSHIP VIVIANE REDING HEARING The nominated commissioner for justice, fundamental rights and citizenship stressed the importance of the Charter for Fundamental Rights that has now been ratified along with the Lisbon Treaty. She said there would be a "zero-tolerance" of infringements of the treaty. It is difficult to see how she reconciles this commitment with her attitude last year to calls for the European institutions to take action on lack of media pluralism and media intimidation in Italy, whilst she still had the post of Information Society and media commissioner and riposted that the European institutions cannot do anything that infringes the principle of subsidiarity or the national sovereignty of nation states - what use a European charter that cannot be applied by Europe? Reding did not make any particular statements regarding human rights abuses of migrants by member states. On womens' rights she gave a very confident performance in front of the womens' committee, but her being strongly catholic leaves concerns amongst some MEPs about her suitability for this responsibility, in particular in a multi-religious Europe. She is getting several headlines in the media (better than other commissioners have done so far) for sounding caution on the use of body scanners in airports. DEVELOPMENT ANDRIS PIEBALGS HEARING The nominated development commissioner gave a strong performance that surprised many deputies. Although he did not make any strong commitments with regards to ensuring that the development objectives of the European Union that are enshrined in the Lisbon Treaty - chiefly combating poverty - take precedent over other political objectives of the Union in its dealings with other parts of the world in the way the Lisbon Treaty insists it should, he did show that he is unusually outspoken for a commissioner when he said he is in favour of a financial transaction tax. The question about a financial transaction tax is becoming a regular feature of the MEP's questions to nominated Commissioners now, and the openness of the responses suggests that the Commission is likely to make a serious effort to make it happen. BUDGET JANUSZ LEWANDOWSKI HEARING The nominated Budget Commissioner has himself been an elected MEP in the parliament for the EPP, and was chair of the Budget committee in the parliament. He came under some attack his voting record on equalities issues, and doubts were raised with how this might influence is allocation of funds. He was vague about reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, but recognised it was the most criticised of the European policies. On the issue of the EU raising its own resources, by means of an EU tax, Mr Lewandowski left the door open saying that although European citizens were not yet ready for such a tax, he said it was conceivable in the future. He also pointed out that there are proposals for the EU to raise its own resources by means of EU taxes of Co2 quotas or international transaction tax. EU FOREIGN POLICY: CATHERINE ASHTON HEARING The nominated EU Foreign Policy Chief showed an awareness of most of the different domains of her brief, but was low on specifics, on any proposed changes to current EU policy, and didn't make any attempt to provide a sense of direction that would cut through to public awareness outside of the parliament, let alone influence geopolitics. The Greens, the Liberals and the Radical Left of the parliament were highly critical after the hearing. The Socialists were inevitably kind to Catherine Ashton, seeing her nomination as Foreign Policy Chief as their big achievement in the great game of compromise that settled on the nominations of the President of the European Council and the Foreign Policy post before Christmas. The PPE (conservative) said they will not block the appointment of Ashton, but said 'there is no reason to be enthusiastic'. Ashton was opposed to the calls from the parliament that chief members of the new European External Action service should be subjected to US Senate style hearings in front of the parliament. This is largely, we assume, because the member states which currently have authority in Europe want to keep control over the important diplomatic posts of the service. On another issue of importance to European Alternatives - the possibility of a common European seat on the UN Security Council - Ms Ashton replied that the question had not even crossed her mind since she has been appointed to the post, which doesn't suggest it is a priority... The timetable for the hearings is as follows: Monday 11 January 2010 13.00-16.00 Janusz Lewandowski (EPP, Poland) – Budget Commissioner Catherine Ashton (PES, UK) - EU foreign policy chief 16.30-19.30 Olli Rehn (ELDR, Finland) - Economic and Monetary Affairs Andris Piebalgs (EPP, Latvia) – Development Tuesday 12 January 9.00-12.00 Karel De Gucht (ELDR, Belgium ) – Trade Algirdas Šemeta (EPP, Lithuania) - Taxation and Customs Union, Audit and Anti-Fraud 13.00-16.00 Stefan Fuele (PES, Czech Republic) - Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Viviane Reding (EPP, Luxembourg) - Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, Civil Liberties 16.30-19.30 Rumiana Jeleva (EPP, Bulgaria) - International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response Joaquín Almunia (PES, Spain) – Competition Wednesday 13 January 13.00-16.00 Janez Potocnik (ELDR, Slovenia) – Environment László Andor (PES, Hungary) - Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion 16.30-19.30 Maire Geoghegan Quinn (ELDR, Ireland) - Research, Innovation and Science Michel Barnier (EPP, France) - Internal Market and Services Thursday 14 January 9.00-12.00 Siim Kallas (ELDR, Estonia) – Transport Günther Oettinger (EPP, Germany) – Energy, Industry 13.00-16.00 John Dalli (EPP, Malta) - Health and Consumer Policy Androulla Vassiliou (ELDR, Cyprus) - Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth 16.30-19.30 Johannes Hahn (EPP, Austria) - Regional policy Neelie Kroes (ELDR, The Netherlands) - Digital Agenda, Industry Friday 15 January 9.00-12.00 Dacian Ciolos (EPP, Romania) – Agriculture Connie Hedegaard (EPP, Denmark) - Climate Action Monday 18 January 18.00-21.00 Antonio Tajani (EPP, Italy) - Industry and Entrepreneurship Maros Sefcovic (PES, Slovakia) - Institutional Affairs and Administration Tuesday 19 January 9.00-12.00 Cecilia Malmström (ELDR, Sweden) - Home Affairs, Civil Liberties Maria Damanaki (PES, Greece) - Maritime Affairs and Fisheries