A rise in power of control by the European Commission

(B2) Since the beginning of its election by universal suffrage, the European Parliament has wanted to interfere in the process of appointing the European Commission, which at first concerned only governments. A movement that was built in stages

First of all, the assembly succeeded in transforming the vote of censure into a motion of confidence. But this one concerns the whole Commission or nothing. In 1995, a system of hearings was set up. By threatening to overthrow the Santer commission in 1999, the assembly bared its fangs and affirmed that the possibility of a vote of no confidence was not purely formal.

The system of hearings is being refined and becomes a real test where the candidate must not only demonstrate his European enthusiasm, his integrity but also his knowledge of the files. This resulted in several candidates being sent home — Italy's Rocco Buttiglione and Latvia's Ingrida Udre in 2004 (read: Five years ago ! Three failed commissioners), the Bulgarian Rumiana Jeleva in 2009 (read: Jeleva in front of the European Parliament. Bye bye Rumiana?) — or to change the portfolio of other candidates — that of László Kovacs in 2004.

A prior control of conflicts of interest

A new step was taken in 2019 with the establishment of a prior mechanism for reviewing possible conflicts of interest, making it possible to individually eject commissioners even before the hearing procedure. This mechanism, which combines confrontation of official declarations of interest, written questions, and even hearings of interested parties, is becoming a real hearing before its time. It resulted in the ejection of two candidates — Romania's Rovana Plumb and Hungary's László Trócsányi. But it has also shown its limits since, for largely political reasons, Sylvie Goulard slipped through the cracks.

A lesson for the future

We bet that this system will now be reinforced, so that all known or unknown elements can be examined well in advance and upstream. And not at the last minute. We will therefore have two hearing systems in the future: one on conflicts of interest, another on the merits. The future presidents of the European Commission, like the heads of government who appoint their commissioners, will have an interest in perfecting their control mechanisms and not contenting themselves with declarations on their honor or an appearance of good faith. The past of their candidates must be spotless and flawless.

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)