On November 4, the hearing of the candidates for European Commissioners in the relevant committees of the European Parliament begins in Brussels. The nominated candidate from Bulgaria, Ekaterina Zaharieva, will present herself on November 5 before the committee for industry, scientific research and energy, and the committee for culture has also been invited to her hearing.
The hearings are expected to conclude on November 12.
The hearings last 3 hours and can be extended to 4 if there are more questions and political agreement to do so. 15 minutes are allotted for the candidate's introductory speech. The questions are asked by the political groups according to their representativeness, and the invited committees can also ask. When the proceedings are over, the committee chairs meet behind closed doors quickly afterwards. In the evaluation letter they prepare, two questions must be answered - whether the candidate is suitable for European Commissioner, as well as for the portfolio he is fighting for. The letter is then sent to the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament.
There are three evaluation options - applicants can be approved, rejected, or put additional written questions and schedule an additional hearing within an hour and a half. To be approved, they must receive the consent of 2/3 of the MEPs in the relevant committee according to their political representation. If this majority is not reached, the two questions can again be put to a vote. If the required 2/3 is still not present, voting with a simple majority is carried out, where the vote of non-affiliated MEPs also has weight. Substitute committee members can vote only if authorized by regular members. The committees invited to the hearing do not take part in the vote, but they provide an annex to the evaluation letter. | BGNES
