The Fort Worth Press - EU top team heavyweights face parliament test

USD -
AED 3.672959
AFN 68.564771
ALL 93.747911
AMD 390.284429
ANG 1.810594
AOA 913.496802
ARS 1003.995188
AUD 1.53459
AWG 1.8025
AZN 1.699549
BAM 1.867656
BBD 2.028371
BDT 120.054049
BGN 1.86754
BHD 0.376919
BIF 2967.603314
BMD 1
BND 1.350013
BOB 6.941467
BRL 5.814299
BSD 1.004588
BTN 84.879318
BWP 13.715061
BYN 3.287735
BYR 19600
BZD 2.025029
CAD 1.39725
CDF 2870.000195
CHF 0.886431
CLF 0.035289
CLP 973.740147
CNY 7.246703
CNH 7.254485
COP 4391.61
CRC 510.697626
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 105.296581
CZK 24.204897
DJF 178.896958
DKK 7.12104
DOP 60.533139
DZD 133.588976
EGP 49.733601
ERN 15
ETB 125.19309
EUR 0.9546
FJD 2.273301
FKP 0.789317
GBP 0.79438
GEL 2.725005
GGP 0.789317
GHS 15.9733
GIP 0.789317
GMD 70.999977
GNF 8659.405931
GTQ 7.755077
GYD 210.182537
HKD 7.781725
HNL 25.38723
HRK 7.133259
HTG 131.897725
HUF 392.640012
IDR 15920.85
ILS 3.71464
IMP 0.789317
INR 84.497198
IQD 1316.106114
IRR 42104.999726
ISK 139.49025
JEP 0.789317
JMD 159.547343
JOD 0.709104
JPY 154.437033
KES 129.499408
KGS 86.498196
KHR 4051.853797
KMF 469.650427
KPW 899.999621
KRW 1400.502368
KWD 0.30764
KYD 0.837201
KZT 498.204702
LAK 22005.452662
LBP 89966.529634
LKR 292.295131
LRD 181.336364
LSL 18.178163
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.907395
MAD 10.047317
MDL 18.293632
MGA 4704.107261
MKD 58.762862
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3397.999946
MOP 8.054107
MRU 39.953781
MUR 46.39985
MVR 15.450137
MWK 1742.028515
MXN 20.42637
MYR 4.468981
MZN 63.867524
NAD 18.17825
NGN 1691.080109
NIO 36.9663
NOK 11.06257
NPR 135.806643
NZD 1.712199
OMR 0.384998
PAB 1.004588
PEN 3.816004
PGK 4.044176
PHP 58.961497
PKR 279.238615
PLN 4.147038
PYG 7884.8734
QAR 3.662677
RON 4.751797
RSD 111.714014
RUB 101.298586
RWF 1380.387139
SAR 3.754514
SBD 8.355531
SCR 13.620455
SDG 601.50733
SEK 11.062099
SGD 1.345655
SHP 0.789317
SLE 22.584996
SLL 20969.504736
SOS 574.129781
SRD 35.405041
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.790275
SYP 2512.529858
SZL 18.186159
THB 34.769962
TJS 10.699307
TMT 3.51
TND 3.178235
TOP 2.342103
TRY 34.5321
TTD 6.819267
TWD 32.550997
TZS 2652.35898
UAH 41.476647
UGX 3711.856071
UYU 42.810419
UZS 12915.455097
VES 46.269033
VND 25420
VUV 118.722009
WST 2.791591
XAF 626.409275
XAG 0.032294
XAU 0.000372
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.766351
XOF 626.39432
XPF 113.885189
YER 249.898534
ZAR 18.081301
ZMK 9001.203834
ZMW 27.702577
ZWL 321.999592
  • RBGPF

    59.6900

    59.69

    +100%

  • NGG

    -0.1700

    63.1

    -0.27%

  • RIO

    0.1800

    62.57

    +0.29%

  • CMSC

    0.1200

    24.64

    +0.49%

  • RELX

    0.6500

    45.76

    +1.42%

  • SCS

    -0.0300

    13.04

    -0.23%

  • GSK

    0.3500

    33.7

    +1.04%

  • RYCEF

    0.1800

    6.79

    +2.65%

  • CMSD

    0.1850

    24.445

    +0.76%

  • AZN

    1.0600

    64.26

    +1.65%

  • BCC

    2.9500

    140.36

    +2.1%

  • VOD

    -0.1000

    8.84

    -1.13%

  • JRI

    0.0000

    13.23

    0%

  • BCE

    -0.3200

    26.68

    -1.2%

  • BTI

    -0.1000

    36.98

    -0.27%

  • BP

    0.4400

    29.52

    +1.49%

EU top team heavyweights face parliament test
EU top team heavyweights face parliament test / Photo: © AFP

EU top team heavyweights face parliament test

The heavyweights of the EU's new top team are to be quizzed by lawmakers in Brussels on Tuesday during confirmation hearings that are set to lay bare political dividing lines within the bloc.

Text size:

Estonia's ex-prime minister Kaja Kallas and France's ex-foreign minister Stephane Sejourne are among six vice-presidents chosen by EU chief Ursula von der Leyen to lead her new European Commission -- and set to face scrutiny from parliament.

A hawkish critic of Russia, Kallas, 47, has been tapped as the European Union's new top diplomat, while Sejourne, 39, is to take charge of the 27-nation bloc's industrial strategy.

Entrusted with two highly sensitive portfolios as the EU seeks to navigate the war in Ukraine, Donald Trump's return to the White House and the bloc's declining competitiveness vis-a-vis the United States and China, both will have to prove their worth.

Yet political power plays might see others face the toughest questioning.

"Two commissioners will be targeted: Fitto and Ribera," said Dutch lawmaker Dirk Gotink of the centre-right European People's Party (EPP), the largest group in the European Parliament -- referring to Italy's Raffaele Fitto and Spain's Teresa Ribera.

Lawmakers on the centre and left are unhappy that Fitto, of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's hard-right Brothers of Italy party, was handed a powerful vice-presidency with the cohesion and reforms brief.

They see the move, which von der Leyen has said reflected Rome's importance within the bloc, as a betrayal of a deal that got her re-elected in July.

- 'Open and uncertain' -

Meloni's European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), which espouses a brand of politics disliked by progressive EU parliamentarians, did not support the German politician's bid for a second term.

Opponents argue it should thus be excluded from the inner sanctum of the new leadership.

Some members of the Socialists and Democrats -- the second-largest group in parliament -- have threatened to vote against confirming the entire college of commissioners on November 27 if Fitto, 55, is not stripped of the vice-presidency.

The ECR tried to mend bridges by pulling its punches as the first 20 commissioners were grilled last week, voting in favour of most of them.

But "the final outcome remains open and uncertain," said Sandro Gozi, of the centrist Renew group.

Fitto's troubles might in turn affect Ribera, who along with Finland's Henna Virkkunen will be the last to undergo the three-hour questioning, and might be in for a rough hearing if lawmakers have already taken their gloves off.

A socialist, Ribera was given what is arguably the commission's most influential role, as competition chief with responsibility over a vast environmental portfolio.

A close ally of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, the 55-year-old is likely to have to address her anti-nuclear views and reassure sceptical right-wingers of her commitment to pair climate goals with growth.

She may also be grilled about her government's response to the devastating floods that hit the Valencia region.

The commission is one of the world's most formidable regulators, enforcing European law on key issues such as trade, competition and technology. Each EU state has nominated one member to serve on the body.

Vice-presidents have specific purviews but are also tasked with coordinating the work of other commissioners in charge of related matters.

Von der Leyen, who counts as Germany's representative, allocated portfolios based on personal experience as well as political and national clout.

The hearings offer parliament a rare chance to flex its muscles against the bloc's powerful executive -- and at least one candidate has been canned by parliamentarians during the five-yearly exercise since 2004.

Yet, all but one of the 20 questioned so far this year have been given the green light.

The outlier is Hungary's Oliver Varhelyi, an ally of nationalist prime minister and Brussels rebel Viktor Orban, whose fate is still in the balance, a decision having been postponed to Wednesday.

Sophia Russack, a researcher at the Centre for European Policy Studies think tank, said things might get "spicier" on Tuesday but she still expected the remaining six candidates to "pass through".

The team is to start a five-year term in early December.

H.M.Hernandez--TFWP