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Von der Leyen Commission. Give us names quickly. We will do the job (Sassoli)

(B2 to Justus Lipsius) For the new President of the European Parliament, the Italian David Sassoli, it was Thursday (17 October), his first summit meeting with the leaders of the Member States. In front of the press, he wanted to defend the work carried out by the MEPs who successively rejected three commissioner candidates, in particular Sylvie Goulard

David Sassoli facing the press at the European summit (credit: Council of the EU)

A Parliament that does its job 

“It is a demanding parliament which asserts its prerogatives (...), and it took the exercise seriously. The procedure was followed. »

A Parliament very different from the past 

“Our Parliament is very different from the past. This is the result of the verdict of the polls. It has been observed that Europhile sensitivities win the day, but we do not have a heavier group than the other others, yet we need convergences for a very political legislature. There will have to be a lot of dialogue and controversy between the groups for this to be reflected. »

To work: a convergence of ideas

“We need a dialogue between the forces in the European presence and which have a European aspiration. This is the new deal. We have groups that need each other. We must dialogue [...] to have convergences between the ideas. »

A timetable that depends on the Member States

“I don't know when the new Commission will take office. But first we must receive the three names. And, that, within four or five weeks, if we want to meet the December deadline, [with] a vote in the November plenary. Parliament has not stopped rolling up its sleeves. He did it very carefully. We took our role seriously. »

A role to take as an example 

“European Commissioners will be given very broad powers. It is therefore normal for Parliament to verify them upstream. It would be better if it was like that also at the national level. National parliaments should follow the example of the European Parliament. »

(Aurelie Pugnet)

Nicolas Gros Verheyde

Chief editor of the B2 site. Graduated in European law from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne and listener to the 65th session of the IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale. Journalist since 1989, founded B2 - Bruxelles2 in 2008. EU/NATO correspondent in Brussels for Sud-Ouest (previously West-France and France-Soir).

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