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

USD -
AED 3.673004
AFN 67.000539
ALL 91.99997
AMD 387.649862
ANG 1.803609
AOA 912.000112
ARS 998.292528
AUD 1.542246
AWG 1.8
AZN 1.700741
BAM 1.839835
BBD 2.020546
BDT 119.582702
BGN 1.848445
BHD 0.376942
BIF 2898
BMD 1
BND 1.337466
BOB 6.915139
BRL 5.811603
BSD 1.000762
BTN 84.395861
BWP 13.578807
BYN 3.274884
BYR 19600
BZD 2.01714
CAD 1.39884
CDF 2865.000453
CHF 0.88578
CLF 0.035504
CLP 979.669589
CNY 7.225098
CNH 7.244355
COP 4479
CRC 511.011392
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 104.349936
CZK 23.943021
DJF 177.720103
DKK 7.066005
DOP 60.250156
DZD 134.109644
EGP 49.343392
ERN 15
ETB 122.04992
EUR 0.94715
FJD 2.271796
FKP 0.786733
GBP 0.78724
GEL 2.729861
GGP 0.786733
GHS 16.249862
GIP 0.786733
GMD 70.502399
GNF 8631.000306
GTQ 7.732613
GYD 209.3638
HKD 7.781485
HNL 25.070127
HRK 7.099488
HTG 131.582908
HUF 386.160085
IDR 15814.45
ILS 3.754225
IMP 0.786733
INR 84.42905
IQD 1310.5
IRR 42092.502326
ISK 139.480322
JEP 0.786733
JMD 158.431955
JOD 0.709098
JPY 155.490981
KES 129.501197
KGS 86.196076
KHR 4055.000182
KMF 464.605413
KPW 900.000259
KRW 1407.050332
KWD 0.30765
KYD 0.833937
KZT 493.231612
LAK 21960.000254
LBP 89599.999751
LKR 292.48469
LRD 185.349887
LSL 18.110315
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.864974
MAD 9.921046
MDL 18.032417
MGA 4650.000282
MKD 58.225919
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3397.999914
MOP 8.017648
MRU 39.892388
MUR 47.040276
MVR 15.460279
MWK 1735.000036
MXN 20.559096
MYR 4.437502
MZN 63.924979
NAD 18.109847
NGN 1674.960316
NIO 36.770044
NOK 11.14459
NPR 135.035137
NZD 1.700901
OMR 0.385034
PAB 1.000724
PEN 3.80195
PGK 4.01525
PHP 58.717986
PKR 278.050169
PLN 4.11199
PYG 7810.118723
QAR 3.64075
RON 4.712015
RSD 110.791
RUB 98.501411
RWF 1366
SAR 3.757516
SBD 8.351256
SCR 13.592518
SDG 601.502627
SEK 10.992904
SGD 1.343115
SHP 0.786733
SLE 22.798929
SLL 20969.503383
SOS 571.496143
SRD 35.280196
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.756103
SYP 2512.529879
SZL 18.109698
THB 34.950218
TJS 10.662352
TMT 3.5
TND 3.147502
TOP 2.342103
TRY 34.354603
TTD 6.800373
TWD 32.471007
TZS 2659.999428
UAH 41.343769
UGX 3672.521001
UYU 42.190719
UZS 12814.999935
VES 44.87156
VND 25345
VUV 118.721963
WST 2.801353
XAF 617.092513
XAG 0.032717
XAU 0.000387
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.753908
XOF 616.498844
XPF 112.650011
YER 249.775008
ZAR 18.24885
ZMK 9001.198545
ZMW 27.374927
ZWL 321.999592
  • RBGPF

    -0.8500

    59.34

    -1.43%

  • CMSC

    0.0700

    24.61

    +0.28%

  • CMSD

    -0.0200

    24.73

    -0.08%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0500

    7.11

    -0.7%

  • NGG

    -0.7800

    62.12

    -1.26%

  • RIO

    -0.5800

    60.62

    -0.96%

  • SCS

    -0.3000

    13.37

    -2.24%

  • VOD

    0.2800

    8.75

    +3.2%

  • GSK

    -0.4100

    35.11

    -1.17%

  • RELX

    -0.4700

    46.12

    -1.02%

  • BCC

    1.4200

    142.55

    +1%

  • BTI

    0.1800

    35.42

    +0.51%

  • AZN

    0.1000

    65.29

    +0.15%

  • BCE

    -0.4800

    27.21

    -1.76%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.24

    +0.15%

  • BP

    0.4100

    28.57

    +1.44%

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