This week’s key events in EU policy include the European Court of Justice issuing final decisions before the summer break, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen beginning discussions with member states’ nominations for Commissioners in mid-to-end August, and the deadline for member states to submit nominations for Commissioners by August 30. The European Parliament’s 720 members have elected chairs and vice-chairs to its committees and subcommittees and will now scatter to the EU’s 27 member states for the summer break before reconvening in September. With two new far-right groups, a drop in female representation, and an average age of 50, the upcoming parliamentary assembly will differ from the last one.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will return from holiday in mid-August to start discussions and interviews to determine which slate of commissioners to pick for her new mandate. Some countries have not yet made formal nominations, and Euronews will update the commissioner tracker document over the summer as countries decide who they intend to send to Brussels and which positions they will be lobbying for. Few countries have nominated an equal number of male and female candidates, which is a demand made by von der Leyen. Member states need to balance the personalities they select against the roles they may want to aim for when pitching names for commissioners.
The candidates for commissioners will be presented to the European Parliament in the autumn for approval by specialized committees before a vote by MEPs to approve the college as a whole. The Policy Briefing will pause over the summer and resume on August 26. In policy news, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has extended to the EU’s formation of parliamentary committees. The vote for the third vice-chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI) was postponed to September as the candidate proposed by The Left, Rima Hassan, was not acceptable to the EPP group due to her activism in favor of Palestine. This clash between François-Xavier Bellamy and Rima Hassan may end up in court, as Bellamy filed a police complaint against Hassan.
The Policy Briefing will resume on August 26, following a break over the summer. Key policy events include the European Court of Justice issuing final decisions before the summer break, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen starting discussions with member states’ nominations for Commissioners in mid-to-end August, and the deadline for member states to submit nominations for Commissioners by August 30. The European Parliament’s members have elected chairs and vice-chairs to its committees and subcommittees, with the average age of members being 50 and a drop in female representation. Von der Leyen will return from holiday in mid-August to select commissioners for her new mandate, with some countries yet to make formal nominations.
The candidates for commissioners will be presented to the European Parliament in the autumn for approval by specialized committees before a vote by MEPs to approve the college as a whole. The clash between François-Xavier Bellamy and Rima Hassan over the Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI) may end up in court, as Bellamy filed a police complaint against Hassan. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has extended to the formation of parliamentary committees, with Hassan’s activism in favor of Palestine causing controversy within the EPP group. The Policy Briefing will resume on August 26, with updates on policy news and key events in EU policy.
