Lawmakers are vetting the EU chief's new team. It might be tough but she has the right on her side
The influence of nationalist and populist parties on the European Union will be on public display next week when lawmakers vet new members of the bloc's increasingly powerful executive branch
BRUSSELS (AP) — Five months after the European Union lurched to the political right, the influence of nationalist and populist parties will go on public display in Brussels on Monday when lawmakers vet the proposed new members of the EU’s increasingly powerful executive branch.
Over five days of hearings, the EU parliamentarians will grill 26 top officials — nominated by their national governments — to establish whether they are suitable to lead the next European Commission on policies like agriculture, trade, economic affairs, health or migration.
The commission is the only EU body with the power to draft laws which, once passed by the Parliament and the council of member states, apply in all 27 countries of the bloc. They cover everything from water quality to data protection to competition policy.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen assembled her new-look executive in September, seeking to balance sensitive political, geographical and gender concerns within a team that will lead the European project for the next five years.
