The commissioners designate for the second von der Leyen Commission face hearings by the EU Parliament this and next week (Monday 4th, Wed 6th and Tuesday 12th). The foreign policy and AI/technology focused commissioners are concentrated on the 12th. For comparison for American readers, they are like Senate confirmation hearings, though maybe less demanding.
Developments in the US mean that the new commission will need to be coherent and well organised, and be able to focus on the strategic aspects of trade and economic policy.
So far, we have not seen any controversial hearings but we are learning a little more on the direction of EU policy.
Notably, Maros Sefcovic, a Brussels veteran and now trade commissioner has been scathing on China (‘relationship is not fair’, ‘complicated/difficult’) and argued for a continuation of ‘de-risking’ which in practice means trading with China, save in sensitive areas, and pushing back on China’s attempts to sanction European goods like alcohol. Of note, he also flagged preparations for a trade war with the USA (Trump II) but did not give much away and this morning many European leaders will be nervously watching developments in Washington.
As the election result becomes clear the euro is down over 1.5%, effectively a nod towards some of the trade tensions that lie ahead.
In other hearings, the new start-up/innovation commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva ran into some difficulty with MEPs when she refused to rule out EU innovation funding being invested with Israeli firms (with defense links). Her testimony was short on detail – notably so on biotech and AI (which didn’t seem a strong focus for her). Neither did justice commissioner McGrath’s testimony touch much on technology/social media.
In summary, so far the hearings have produced little drama and little new detail on policy, notably in tech. On trade, the sense is of the EC worrying about two trade wars. Next week there will be much more of a focus on foreign policy, and a keener sense of how the result of the US election is going to shape the international landscape.
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