Two proposed timetables put forward for commissioner hearings

The European Parliament is pondering whether to grill the six executive vice-presidents first or last in next month’s hearings for European commissioners-designate, according to two proposed schedules seen by POLITICO.

The hearings will take place from Nov 4. to 12, but the exact timings have yet to be finalized.

Under the first proposal, the nominees for executive vice-president — Estonia’s Kaja Kallas, Finland’s Henna Virkkunen, France’s Stéphane Séjourné, Italy’s Raffaele Fitto, Romania’s Roxana Mînzatu and Spain’s Teresa Ribera — would be quizzed on Nov. 11 and 12.

The alternative timetable suggests they could all face parliamentary grillings on Nov. 5, before the hearings for the rest of the commissioners.

The two options will be presented at the next meeting of the Conference of Presidents (CoP), the Parliament’s top decision-making body, on Thursday in Strasbourg.

The CoP has already agreed to limit all hearings to three hours each.