Of the 16 appointed commissioners who had hearings this week, only Varhelyi failed.
Hungarian European Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi, who was offered the portfolio of Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare in the new European Commission, did not get immediate approval from members of the European Parliament. Politico reported this on Thursday, November 7.
The coordinators of the responsible committees decided to assign him a second round of written questions.
Before this, for about 3.5 hours, Varhely had to answer questions about his new area of responsibilities and his connections with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
“We note that the responses given by Mr Varhelyi are not in line with Renew Europe’s expectations, so we conclude that we cannot support his nomination at this stage,” the Liberal group said in a statement after the hearing.
In particular, Sarah Mathieu, coordinator of the Greens committee on the environment, public health and food security, added in her release: “We are not convinced by Oliver Varhelyi, who was appointed as commissioner.”
Varhelyi will answer questions from MEPs on Monday. The coordinators will hold a second review meeting, after which they need to reach a two-thirds majority. If they fail to reject or approve it, the vote will go to all committees, where Varhelyi needs a simple majority to give it the green light.
According to several unnamed officials of the European Parliament, Varhelyi was supported only by the European Conservatives and Reformists, while the Greens, Liberals and Social Democrats insisted on another round of written questions.
It was noted that the development of events in Varhelya’s candidacy did not come as a surprise. Of the 16 appointed commissioners who had hearings this week, only Varhelyi failed.
We remind you that Hungary’s presidency of the Council of the European Union will continue from July 1 to December 2024. The country replaced Belgium.
Orban announced his intention to create a far-right faction in the European Parliament
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.