While the U.S. presidential elections have concluded with Donald Trump elected as the new president, the EU is focusing on its own leadership. The process to confirm nominees for the new von der Leyen Commission is well underway.  

The relevant parliamentary committees oversee this process ensuring that the future EU leaders are qualified and accountable. In the last week, candidates were checked for conflicts of interests and they have already responded to a series of written questions (find an analysis in my last article). 

The hearings began on Monday and will continue until 12 November, with the hearings of the candidate Vice-Presidents happening on the last day. Each nominee is participating in a live-streamed, three-hour hearing in front of the committees responsible for their assigned portfolios. Before the hearings, candidates were made to answer a set of written questions from the committees, giving Parliament a chance to learn more about them. 

The hearings are structured to allow for input from various political groups. After each candidate gives a 15-minute opening statement, committee members use the remaining time to ask questions, (the speaking time of each committee member is divided based on the size of each political faction). This setup ensures that different perspectives are represented. 

The EASPD team is following a few key hearings. The first one being the candidate for energy and housing, Danish Dan Jørgensen, on 5 November. In his opening remarks, Jørgensen acknowledged that far too many people struggle to find an affordable place to live. Although he emphasised that housing is a competence of the EU Member States, he sees a clear role for the EU, by coming up with a European Affordable Housing Plan, a housing investment platform in cooperation with the European Investment Bank, increasing EU funding, and working on ensuring state aid rules helps social housing.  Despite a big focus on energy and nuclear power, the Danish candidate reiterated housing will be high in his agenda, and that he’d put efforts in better including stakeholders in policymaking, including NGOs.  

Another key hearing for us was the one of Hadja Lahbib, candidate on preparedness, crisis management and equality. We followed this session with other organisations working on disability advocacy, hosted by Inclusion Europe. The hearing took place on 6 November. The discussion revolved mainly around gender equality, prevention of crisis and natural disasters, and humanitarian aid. Lahbib announced a gender equality strategy to be launched on International Women's Day next year and took great commitments on in her humanitarian aid portfolio. While she faced a few critical questions on sensitive issues from her past, the only question she received focusing only on disability was by Li Anderssen, Chair of the EMPL committee. She asked her about the future of the Strategy on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and what would be her future priorities. Lahbib mentioned the disability employment gap, which still needs to be tackled, and she announced future initiatives of deinstitutionalisation and social support.  

After each hearing, committee members hold a closed meeting to decide whether to support the nominee. This decision is made within 24 hours and requires a two-thirds majority vote. The voting power of each political group affects the outcome, making it necessary to gain support from multiple groups. 

Approval is not guaranteed. In the past, some candidates have withdrawn or been reassigned due to concerns about their qualifications. For instance, in 2019, Parliament rejected three candidates from Romania, Hungary, and France. 

In this round , Olivér Várhelyi, Hungarian candidate for health and animal welfare and former commissioner on enlargement, was the first one who failed to receive immediate approval after his hearing. He will receive instead a second round of written questions, that he will have 48 hours to answer. The most contentious was women’s health where Várhelyi said that abortion was more of a constitutional and human rights issue than health and that it falls under the jurisdiction of individual member states. His lack of commitment to protect reproductive rights across Europe is particularly sensitive since his party, Fidesz, has opposed broader access to abortion in Hungary. 

Once the evaluation process is complete, the committee chair and coordinators will draft letters either supporting or rejecting each candidate. This letter will be made public on 21 November. If the committees approve the nominees, the final vote to confirm the Commission will take place between November 25-28 in Parliament, requiring a simple majority from the members. After Parliament gives its approval, the European Council officially appoints the new European Commission. 

The goal is for the new Commission to start its work by early December, but if any nominees are rejected, the timeline could be pushed back to January.