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BackThe hearings of the 27 designated EU Commissioners in the EU Parliament have been taking place since the beginning of the week. Of particular interest was the hearing of the Belgian Christian Democrat Marianne Thyssen, who will be in charge of Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour mobility in the EU Commission - provided her appointment is confirmed by the EU Parliament. Thyssen’s absolute priorities include youth unemployment and the implementation of the European Youth Guarantee. However, one waited in vain for solution approaches in the fight against wage and social dumping and in more concrete terms for a reference to a revision of the Posting of Workers Directive. Only the coming weeks and months will show whether Thyssen will fulfil the expectations placed on her.
Hearings in the EU Parliament are subject to strict rules - “Hawks will not pick out hawks' eyes”
Nothing is left to chance at hearings in the EU Parliament. For example, designated EU Commissioners have to provide answers to written questions by MEPs ahead of the hearing. To begin a hearing, the designated Commissioner is granted 15 minutes for an opening address. Afterwards, the political factions are allowed to ask questions on the portfolio and the general suitability of the Commissioner. A question must not be longer than one minute; followed by two minutes for the designated Commissioner to provide a reply; further inquiries are not allowed. All hearings last exactly three hours. One can understand that such a short period does not provide time to introduce new groundbreaking ideas, as this could lead to confusion and maybe even to rejection - a risk nobody wants to take. Hence, one plays it safe, provides vague answers and hopes to pass the hearing fairly well. Marianne Thyssen did exactly this and as result found approval by almost all political parties. However, one also ought to know that it very much looks like as if hearings are conducted under the motto “Hawks will not pick out hawks' eyes”. The big parties do not appear to have a great desire to challenge candidates of the opposition; hence there are only mock battles, in the full knowledge that there will be no negative consequences.
Thyssen: integration of social partners is the order of the day
The designated Commissioner Thyssen used all her experiences she had made during the past 20 years as an MEP and was able to find the right answers to the trickiest questions. For example, when asked about the introduction of a minimum wage in the EU, she replied that she was generally in favour, but pointing out at the same time, that this decision would lie with national governments. “If I had to decide what happens in Europe, we would have a minimum income across Europe. But this falls beyond our competences” said Thyssen. Thyssen seems to have a particular soft spot for the social partners. For example, it is her wish that the social dialogue in the EU will be initiated again. She also wants to see social partners become genuine partners who will be more involved in important reforms. She was also in favour of investments in people, responding to the amount of € 300 billion, which the Commission President had put on the table to be invested over the coming years. Unfortunately, she did not elaborate whether this money will come from the existing budget, or whether it is “fresh” money - a key question. If it is not “fresh” money, it will be missing from other projects, for which it had been earmarked.
Thyssen has to come up with concrete proposals very soon
However, the designated Commissioner Thyssen showed that she is genuinely interested and has been gaining in-depth knowledge of the range of subjects she is will be responsible for. However, the time has come for her to deliver concrete proposals to ensure that problems such as youth unemployment and the implementation of the Youth Guarantee will be addressed in a better way than had been previously the case. The AK will continue its involvement and make concrete proposals, submitting a catalogue of demands to the future Employment Commissioner, which from our point of view, have to be implemented.
Nothing is left to chance at hearings in the EU Parliament. For example, designated EU Commissioners have to provide answers to written questions by MEPs ahead of the hearing. To begin a hearing, the designated Commissioner is granted 15 minutes for an opening address. Afterwards, the political factions are allowed to ask questions on the portfolio and the general suitability of the Commissioner. A question must not be longer than one minute; followed by two minutes for the designated Commissioner to provide a reply; further inquiries are not allowed. All hearings last exactly three hours. One can understand that such a short period does not provide time to introduce new groundbreaking ideas, as this could lead to confusion and maybe even to rejection - a risk nobody wants to take. Hence, one plays it safe, provides vague answers and hopes to pass the hearing fairly well. Marianne Thyssen did exactly this and as result found approval by almost all political parties. However, one also ought to know that it very much looks like as if hearings are conducted under the motto “Hawks will not pick out hawks' eyes”. The big parties do not appear to have a great desire to challenge candidates of the opposition; hence there are only mock battles, in the full knowledge that there will be no negative consequences.
Thyssen: integration of social partners is the order of the day
The designated Commissioner Thyssen used all her experiences she had made during the past 20 years as an MEP and was able to find the right answers to the trickiest questions. For example, when asked about the introduction of a minimum wage in the EU, she replied that she was generally in favour, but pointing out at the same time, that this decision would lie with national governments. “If I had to decide what happens in Europe, we would have a minimum income across Europe. But this falls beyond our competences” said Thyssen. Thyssen seems to have a particular soft spot for the social partners. For example, it is her wish that the social dialogue in the EU will be initiated again. She also wants to see social partners become genuine partners who will be more involved in important reforms. She was also in favour of investments in people, responding to the amount of € 300 billion, which the Commission President had put on the table to be invested over the coming years. Unfortunately, she did not elaborate whether this money will come from the existing budget, or whether it is “fresh” money - a key question. If it is not “fresh” money, it will be missing from other projects, for which it had been earmarked.
Thyssen has to come up with concrete proposals very soon
However, the designated Commissioner Thyssen showed that she is genuinely interested and has been gaining in-depth knowledge of the range of subjects she is will be responsible for. However, the time has come for her to deliver concrete proposals to ensure that problems such as youth unemployment and the implementation of the Youth Guarantee will be addressed in a better way than had been previously the case. The AK will continue its involvement and make concrete proposals, submitting a catalogue of demands to the future Employment Commissioner, which from our point of view, have to be implemented.