Media Advisory: hearings of the Commissioners-designate | News

You can check the detailed schedule of the confirmation hearings as well as the answers by the Commissioners-designate to the written questions prepared by the different committees.

Meeting rooms

The hearings will take place in rooms 2Q2 and 4Q2 in the ANTALL building of the European Parliament in Brussels, with two meetings taking place in parallel (up to a maximum of six hearings per day).

The last row in the rooms will be reserved for the media. However, seats cannot be reserved in advance and will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Journalists are strongly advised to arrive in good time, as places cannot be guaranteed once the hearing has begun. Those wishing to leave the room before the end of the hearing are also invited to do so quietly via the rear exit.

Media services and webstreaming

Parliament’s press service will publish an EP Today reminder each morning of the hearings taking place that day and a short summary press release after each one.

All hearings are public and can be followed live. You can watch them on Parliament’s webstreaming and on Ebs/EbS+.

Parliament’s Multimedia Centre will provide HD quality videos, high-resolution photos and illustration material in the media topic for all hearings and individually for Commissioners designates.

HD quality videos can be downloaded within 30 minutes of the start of the hearings (live replays) and a selection of high-quality photos will be available for download.

A media work area (Karamanlis passerelle) is available with connectivity for live broadcasting through your own means. All requests for a spot must be addressed to [email protected].

There will be an area for camera crews and photographers at the back of each room where a live broadcast signal will be available.

Accreditation and access

No special accreditation is necessary during the hearings. Journalists holding an inter-institutional pass or annual pass delivered by the Parliament can enter Parliament’s premises as they always do.

The entrance to the ANTALL building, in which the hearings will take place, will be open until 22.30. Parliament’s main entrance on Rue Wiertz will be open 24/7, as will the parking garage with a number of places reserved for media arriving by car. Please note that parking places need to be reserved in advance via the IZIX app.

The cafeteria in the ANTALL building will be open from 8.00 until 22.30 for refreshments (from Monday 4 November to Wednesday 6 November and on Tuesday 12 November). On Thursday 7 November, the cafeteria will be open from 8.00 to 18.30. The Bar in the SPINELLI building will be open until 00.00 (from Monday 4 November to Wednesday 6 November and on Tuesday 12 November).

For direct access to the hearings, you are advised to use the ANTALL entrance, connecting directly to the relevant meeting rooms. Alternatively, Parliament’s entrance for press/visitors in the SPAAK building will be open throughout the week.

Those who do not have a pass need to request short-term accreditation through Parliament’s registration website, and collect it at the Media accreditation desk, General Accreditation Centre, Altiero Spinelli building, Esplanade Solidarność, 01F035.

Opening hours of the accreditation office during the hearings period:

Monday 4 November – Thursday 7 November 08:00 – 20:00

Friday 8 November 08.30 – 13.00

Monday 11 November: 08.30 -17.45

Tuesday 12 November: 08.00 -20.00

Structure of the hearings

Each confirmation hearing lasts three hours. The Commissioner-designate will make a 15-minute introductory statement, which will be followed by questions from MEPs. Each political group will distribute the time between its Members participating in the hearing. The Commissioner-designate will have twice as much time for his or her reply as the time given for the question. Before the end of the confirmation hearing, the Commissioners-designate can make a brief closing statement.

Depending on the portfolio, a Commissioner-designate can be assessed by one committee or by several committees acting jointly (responsible committees). Other committees may be invited to participate in the hearing, meaning they can contribute with oral questions, while the final evaluation of candidates lies with the coordinators of the committee(s) responsible.

Evaluation of the hearings

The Chair and group representatives (coordinators) of the committees concerned will meet without delay after the hearings to evaluate if the Commissioners-designate are qualified both to be members of the College and to carry out the particular duties they have been assigned.

Within 24 hours of completing the evaluation, coordinators will send a confidential letter of recommendation to be examined by the Conference of Committee Chairs and conveyed subsequently to the Conference of Presidents.

Committee coordinators may reach consensus to approve (or reject) a Commissioner-designate. If opinions diverge, the backing of coordinators representing at least two-thirds of the committee membership is necessary.

If coordinators cannot reach a two-thirds majority to approve (or reject) a candidate, they may request additional information through further written questions and/or resume the confirmation hearing (subject to the approval of the Conference of Presidents, for 1.5 hours) to clarify outstanding issues. If there is no simple majority among coordinators for either of these steps, the Chair will convene a committee meeting to vote on the approval of the candidate (in camera, secret vote, simple majority).

Following possible further written questions and/or a resumed confirmation hearing, coordinators will either approve the Commissioner-designate by at least a two-thirds majority or if they fail to do so, the chair will convene a committee meeting and hold a secret vote on the candidate’s suitability, requiring only a simple majority to recommend the candidate for approval.

Outcome and closing of all hearings

Once all hearings have been completed, the Conference of Committee Chairs will assess the outcome of all hearings and forward its conclusions to the Conference of Presidents. The latter is set to conduct the final evaluation and declare the hearings closed on 21 November, after having analysed the evaluation letters from the committees in charge and the recommendation of the Conference of Committee Chairs. Once the Conference of Presidents declares all hearings closed, the evaluation letters will be published.

Next steps – Election of the Commission in plenary

After the conclusion of the hearings, Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen will present the full College of Commissioners and its programme in plenary, followed by a debate with MEPs. Any political group or at least one-twentieth of Members of Parliament (low threshold) may table a motion for a resolution.

The full Commission needs the approval of Parliament (by a majority of the votes cast, by roll-call). The vote is currently scheduled to take place during the 25-28 November session in Strasbourg.

Once confirmed by Parliament, the Commission should be formally appointed by the European Council, acting by a qualified majority.