Scrutiny time: candidate commissioners’ hearings start on Monday

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2014-09-29

The 27 candidates hoping to be part of the European Commission led by Jean-Claude Juncker start appearing at hearings at the European Parliament on 29 September. During the three-hour hearings EP committees will test the candidate commissioners' expertise and competences ahead of the EP voting on whether to approve the new Commission on 22 October. The hearings will be shown live on our website and can also be followed on various other platforms. Read on to find out how.

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Jean-Claude Juncker and the candidate commissioners.

The hearings start on 29 September and continue until 7 October. For the detailed schedule, click here.

The process

Before the hearing candidate commissioners provide answers to written questions from MEPs. At the start of the hearing the candidate can make a speech of a maximum of 15 minutes, followed by a question and answer session. The three-hour hearings are organised by the EP committees dealing wit the candidates' portfolio with the aim of assessing their general competences, European commitment and specific expertise related to the portfolio.

The EP has the final say

The EP plenary has to approve the Commission as a whole before it is able to start its work. However, in the past it has happened that a negative assessment in the hearings led to candidates being withdrawn and portfolios being reshuffled.

Source: European Parliament

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