The main political groups in the European Parliament (EP) agreed on Wednesday to approve the final group of six commissioner candidates and the new European Commission (EC) led by Ursula von der Leyen.
Challenged Commissioner Candidates
Several commissioner candidates failed to receive positive evaluations following their hearings. These include Oliver Várhelyi from Hungary, Raffaele Fitto from Italy, Kaja Kallas from Estonia, Roxana Minzatu from Romania, Stéphane Séjourné from France, Henna Virkkunen from Finland, and Teresa Ribera from Spain.
EP spokesperson Delphine Colard announced earlier on the social platform X that chairs and coordinators of the relevant parliamentary committees would reconvene on Wednesday at 7:00 PM to further assess the performance of commissioners who did not initially secure approval.
Agreement Among Political Groups
According to AFP, representatives of three major political factions— the European People’s Party (EPP), the Socialists and Democrats (S&D), and the centrist Renew Europe (RE)—reached a consensus to back the 27-member College of Commissioners.
This agreement paves the way for the European Parliament to officially approve the new Commission during its plenary session in Strasbourg next week, allowing it to commence operations on December 1.
