Berliner Boersenzeitung - EU top team heavyweights face parliament test

EUR -
AED 3.880214
AFN 70.780645
ALL 97.190724
AMD 409.522612
ANG 1.905375
AOA 963.459077
ARS 1054.565242
AUD 1.628776
AWG 1.901563
AZN 1.796755
BAM 1.943646
BBD 2.134553
BDT 126.330026
BGN 1.952741
BHD 0.398211
BIF 3061.516505
BMD 1.056424
BND 1.412931
BOB 7.305318
BRL 6.135392
BSD 1.057229
BTN 89.157806
BWP 14.344976
BYN 3.459666
BYR 20705.908726
BZD 2.130955
CAD 1.477736
CDF 3026.654692
CHF 0.93536
CLF 0.037508
CLP 1034.94655
CNY 7.632984
CNH 7.653754
COP 4732.250925
CRC 539.844656
CUC 1.056424
CUP 27.995234
CVE 110.237682
CZK 25.281289
DJF 187.748023
DKK 7.460534
DOP 63.649586
DZD 141.676482
EGP 52.106525
ERN 15.846359
ETB 128.936726
FJD 2.399982
FKP 0.831124
GBP 0.831385
GEL 2.883844
GGP 0.831124
GHS 17.167121
GIP 0.831124
GMD 74.470202
GNF 9117.994951
GTQ 8.168918
GYD 221.176977
HKD 8.220542
HNL 26.484549
HRK 7.500069
HTG 139.007329
HUF 407.584838
IDR 16705.089624
ILS 3.96375
IMP 0.831124
INR 89.19084
IQD 1384.44354
IRR 44467.528833
ISK 147.254856
JEP 0.831124
JMD 167.371294
JOD 0.74911
JPY 164.235362
KES 136.814581
KGS 91.06255
KHR 4283.407993
KMF 486.351576
KPW 950.781338
KRW 1486.004635
KWD 0.325019
KYD 0.880991
KZT 521.054323
LAK 23199.068804
LBP 94655.582389
LKR 308.987855
LRD 195.808166
LSL 19.132062
LTL 3.119345
LVL 0.63902
LYD 5.139451
MAD 10.511569
MDL 18.963002
MGA 4912.371092
MKD 61.424062
MMK 2216.377723
MNT 3589.728852
MOP 8.470035
MRU 42.15739
MUR 49.852646
MVR 16.332925
MWK 1832.895368
MXN 21.718195
MYR 4.687879
MZN 67.531893
NAD 19.131566
NGN 1769.468016
NIO 38.844885
NOK 11.768974
NPR 142.654337
NZD 1.796273
OMR 0.406745
PAB 1.056424
PEN 4.002755
PGK 4.241806
PHP 62.042194
PKR 293.738329
PLN 4.338785
PYG 8250.814637
QAR 3.846175
RON 4.974685
RSD 116.952489
RUB 104.058261
RWF 1443.075067
SAR 3.969343
SBD 8.822467
SCR 14.359461
SDG 635.452565
SEK 11.611699
SGD 1.418524
SHP 0.831124
SLE 24.093256
SLL 22152.685149
SOS 604.151362
SRD 37.270499
STD 21865.842121
SVC 9.250157
SYP 2654.296732
SZL 19.131651
THB 36.879495
TJS 11.263964
TMT 3.697484
TND 3.325093
TOP 2.524842
TRY 36.296528
TTD 7.184076
TWD 34.299974
TZS 2812.161
UAH 43.676545
UGX 3879.729929
USD 1.056424
UYU 44.543471
UZS 13538.072127
VES 47.408289
VND 26778.585528
VUV 125.420747
WST 2.959559
XAF 655.662642
XAG 0.03456
XAU 0.000409
XCD 2.855039
XDR 0.796446
XOF 655.662642
XPF 119.331742
YER 263.868258
ZAR 19.270978
ZMK 9509.083158
ZMW 28.919528
ZWL 340.168069
  • 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: Drew ANGERER - 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.

(A.Lehmann--BBZ)