Finance Minister Magnus Brunner faces a difficult evening. He is due to attend the hearing of MEPs on Tuesday, and it is unlikely to be a walk in the park. According to information from the Crown, Brunner is in danger of failing in the first round, in which a two-thirds majority is required.
According to reports, the right-wing factions want to vote against Brunner. The hearing will take place in the 75-member Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. A majority of 49 votes is required. The vote on Brunner is part of a larger power play involving all 26 commissioners nominated by member states.
The right-wing faction could decide
In any case, Brunner can count on the votes of his own conservative EPP faction and the liberals. The Social Democrats are “cooking their own soup” because they want to ensure that their commissioner candidates get enough votes, according to an insider. For the required majority, Brunner also needs MPs from the Greens or the right-wing ECR faction, which also includes Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Italian Fratelli d’Italia. These are shaky, we hear from Brussels.
In 2019, three candidates failed
The hearings in the respective specialized committees started on Monday and will last more than a week. Voting takes place immediately after each hearing. However, not from all committee members, but initially only from the group leaders, who have a different number of votes depending on the group size. In any case, the hearings are not an absolute success; During Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s first term in 2019, parliamentarians rejected three candidates.
In addition to Brunner, one of the four vice presidents could also fail, we hear. Controversial is the Spanish deputy head of government Teresa Ribera Rodríguez, who, as a left-wing climate protection politician, is responsible for the important competition department and should become a kind of EU climate chief. It is quite possible that the flood disaster in her home country will be a stumbling block for her.
She won’t be interviewed until next week. Only then will it be decided how to proceed with the rejected candidates. There are two options: A second hearing, after which only a simple majority is needed. Or you agree that written responses submitted later will be sufficient for the order.
Border protection and transit agreements
The content of Brunner’s hearing will cover the protection of external borders, agreements with third countries and transit countries, Schengen, counter-terrorism and asylum issues. The fact that Brunner was nominated for home affairs and migration was a surprise and could not be approved by everyone, as the Vorarlberg native had not previously had much to do with this topic. The 52-year-old recently caused a surprise when he announced that he was in favor of the admission of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area. As is known, this is currently blocked by Austria.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
