What the Commissioner hearings revealed about the EU

EU Confidential

POLITICO

Politics, News Commentary, News

4.4 • 175 Ratings

🗓️ 15 November 2024

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

There were 26 hearings and 72 hours of questions, answers and non-answers — and in the end, none of it mattered. Politics clearly trumped policy as MEPs grilled the aspiring new commissioners, with partisanship reaching new heights. EU Confidential host Sarah Wheaton unpacks the Commission confirmation hearings with some of POLITICO’s top policy journalists: Senior Reporter for Iberian Affairs Aitor Hernández-Morales; Senior Defense and Space Reporter Josh Posaner; Playbook co-author Eddy Wax; and Tech and Competition Editor Aoife White. The panel separates the theatrics from the serious policy discussion, teases out how Europe is gearing up for Donald Trump’s second presidency (and how it is not), flags which of the bloc’s priorities are set to change, and speculates how new alliances in a right-leaning Parliament could reshape the EU. And don’t miss the latest episode of our sister podcast, Power Play, coming to you this week from COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Host Anne McElvoy talks with Ali Zaidi, the White House National Climate Advisor, who shares his concerns about what might happen to the Biden administration’s climate legacy under a second Trump presidency. It’s worth a listen, here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I would like to welcome you to the confirmation hearing of Mr. Michael McGrath.
0:07.0	The floor is yours and welcome.
0:09.5	Dear Dubrovka, Jouica, you now have the floor for your opening statement.
0:14.6	Many languages use the same word for politics and policy.
0:20.1	But over the past two weeks in Brussels, the distinction between the game and the governing
0:25.2	could not have been more important.
0:27.5	Welcome to you, Commissioner-designate Labib.
0:30.9	The marathon of Commissioner nominee hearings in the European Parliament has been intense.
0:36.5	Mr. Serafin, you have the floor for a presentation.
0:39.0	Warmly welcome, Mr. Andreas Kubilius.
0:41.4	26 hearings, 78 hours.
0:44.3	I now give the floor to Ms. Ribeiro Rodriguez.
0:48.2	Countless questions, answers, and non-answers.
0:55.4	And it's not clear if any of it will have any bearing on the political outcome.
1:03.3	The hearings are finally over, and last week, European lawmakers gave most of the commissioners to be a thumbs up.
1:10.7	But the top-ranking
1:11.7	nominees for executive vice president posts became the subject of intense political wrangling
1:17.1	that had little to do with their hearing performance or their policy plans. It had everything
1:22.8	to do with politics. So can we learn anything substantial from these hearings?
1:28.8	Whether it's about the EU's policy priorities
1:30.9	or the new team's political talent?
1:33.4	And what does this new partisan fighting in Brussels
	...

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