The European Parliament has published a press release providing details on the process for approving the European Commissioner candidates proposed by Jean-Claude Juncker, Commission President-elect. In the press release, the Parliament explains that:

  • candidate Commissioners will need to appear in hearings before Parliamentary Committees from 29 September 2014 to 7 October 2014. Additional hearings will be held, should one or more candidates fail their exams before the committees or have their portfolios changed;
  • in the run up to the hearings, candidates will be sent written questions from the committees. The questions need to be answered in writing by 26 September 2014;
  • each hearing will last for three hours and will be broadcast and webstreamed live. After each hearing, the committees will draw up an evaluation, to be sent to the President of the Parliament;
  • the Conference of Presidents (the political group leaders) will meet on 9 October 2014 to evaluate the hearings; and
  • the Parliament is set to vote on whether to approve the full Commission on 22 October 2014, thus allowing the Commission to start work on 1 November 2014.

View Candidate commissioners to appear before EP committees from 29 September, 12 September 2014