Hearings of the Commissioner-designates: What is next on the agenda for the energy transition?

The new proposed College of Commissioners went through confirmation hearings in the European Parliament from 4 to 12 November. The 27 designated commissioners were interviewed by different parliamentary committees depending on the main topics of their portfolios. Under the spotlight for the future of the energy transition in regions and communities:

• Dan Jorgensen, Commissioner-designate on Energy and Housing
• Jessika Roswall, Commissioner-designate for Environment, Water Resilience and Competitive Circular Economy
• Wopke Hoekstra, Commissioner-designate for Net-Zero, and Clean Growth
• Rafaele Fitto, Executive Vice-president for Cohesion and Reforms
• Teresa Ribera, Executive Vice-president for a Clean, Just and Competitive Transition

During three hours, each of them exposed their planned program and actions for the upcoming mandate, answering questions of the Members of the Parliament for each political groups. Dan Jorgensen led a very convincing hearing, which is an excellent new, as he will be in charge of the most relevant files when it comes to energy transition. He also showed a very positive attitude open to cooperation with diverse external stakeholders. In comparison, Jessika Roswall seemed a bit less in control of her files, but exposed overall a strong program. For Wopke Hoekstra, the exercise were not new, as it is the second time he performed it: and the second hearing sounded very similar to the first one: weak knowledge and unclear engagement, few concrete actions proposed on reaching climate neutrality, and a concerning career path as previous Shell employee.

But the most thrilling and tense hearings were definitely the ones of Rafaele Fitto and of Teresa Ribera: Indeed, Rafaele Fitto was challenged by MEPs on its extreme right political affiliation, and on the different prosecutions for corruption opened against him by the Puglia region. And Teresa Ribera was challenged by conservative and right-wing MEPs on her responsibility in crisis management during the deadly floods, that occurred in Spain. The right majority of the hemicycle threatened to vote down the designate vice-president for Competitiveness and the left majority replied by putting on hold the approval of Rafaele Fitto. Eventually, after long bargaining, Ursula Von Der Leyen managed to reach a deal with the Conference of the Presidents of the European Parliament on the initially proposed College of Commissioners. It was officially approved on Wednesday 27 November in the plenary session of the European Parliament.

For detailed information on the program of the Commissioners, have a read to the FEDARENE briefing summarising the important insights and planned actions of the five main Commissioners mentioned above. The following summary will help you navigate the different files handled by the new responsible, the main points to take from their hearings, and points on which to keep awareness during the mandate. 

Enjoy the reading!