Commission must take office as quickly as possible / Commissioner-designate for Health has presented himself surprisingly strongly / Rejection can have dramatic consequences

“Now everyone has to take responsibility and get out of the trenches”, said Dr Peter Liese MEP, spokesperson for the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats) on environment and health, following the hearings of the Commissioners-designate. “Wednesday, 6th November, changed a lot in my view. We know now that the next President of the USA will be Donald Trump. The politically unclear situation in France, Germany and many other EU countries is weakening the EU in this difficult global political phase. That is why we need a newly legitimised EU Commission as soon as possible. Individual concerns and political games must take a back seat to this.”

In particular, Liese spoke out in favour of confirming the Commissioner-designate for Health and Animal Welfare Oliver Várhelyi: “I was very sceptical when I heard about the proposal, but Várhelyi showed in his hearing that he is competent and gave clear commitments, for example on amending the Medical Devices Regulation. All those who are still rejecting him must also ask themselves what the alternative is. There will have to be a Hungarian Commissioner and I cannot see who would be the lesser evil compared to Várhelyi in this respect. In the event of a rejection, the envisaged date for the Commission to take office (1 December) will definitely not be met. We may not have a confirmed new Commission for months. All of this must also be taken into consideration by those who are still critical. I believe that targeted changes to the portfolio are justifiable, but a rejection is not.”

Liese also spoke out in favour of the confirmation of the designated Vice President from Italy, Raffaele Fitto. “Italy is one of the three largest economies and a founding member of the EU. In contrast to Orban, Giorgia Meloni's government is constructive. The ECR has voted in favour of all the Commissioners confirmed so far, including the Social Democrats Micallef and Jørgensen and the Liberals Lahbib and Kos. If it is irresponsible to have a Vice-President from the ECR, is it not also irresponsible to be elected by the ECR? Raffaele Fitto is definitely not anti-European. He was a Christian Democrat in the 1990s. The fact that he did not join the Communists after the collapse of the Italian Christian Democrats should not be held against him,” emphasised Liese.

The MEP and spokesperson on environmental policy of his group also declared himself prepared in principle to recommend his group to support Vice-President-designate Teresa Ribera. “Teresa Ribera did not make any concessions to the EPP in her hearing and did not make any real effort to gain approval. But that could change in the next few days. It has also been long overdue for her to finally give evidence to the Spanish Parliament about her role in the flood disaster. In this respect, I hope that all sides will finally come together and that we will have a strong European Commission for the next five years,” emphasised Liese.