MEPs not yet satisfied with new EU climate commissioner Power struggle in the US House of Representatives: removal of McCarthy requested

The designated EU climate commissioner, Wopke Hoekstra, still has to worry about confirmation by the EU Parliament. More questions had been asked to Hoekstra, which had to be answered on Wednesday morning, the chairman of the environment committee, Pascal Canfin, said in Strasbourg on Tuesday evening. The Dutchman had had to answer questions from the committee for hours earlier on Monday evening.

The Christian Democrat Hoekstra will become the new climate commissioner of the European Commission. But first he must convince the members of the EU Parliament. A final vote by the full plenary is scheduled for Thursday. However, this only happens if at least two-thirds of the committee members support the candidate.

Past with Shell

From the perspective of critics, Hoekstra must provide credible guarantees that he can promote good climate protection, especially because of his professional past, which included working for the oil company Shell.

The decision about Hoekstra is not the only controversial personnel issue that MPs are currently discussing. Slovakian Maros Sefcovic will take over supervision of the so-called Green Deal within the Commission. Behind this lies the EU’s goal to be climate neutral by 2050. His new role will also be voted on in parliament on Thursday.

Sefcovic is controversial, among other things, because he belongs to the same party as the left-wing winner of the Slovak parliamentary elections, Robert Fico. Fico was noticed during the election campaign with a pro-Russian stance and called for immediate peace negotiations with the aggressor Russia.

He recently announced that he would not send “one more cartridge” to Ukraine. During the hearing, Sefcovic pointed out that he had been honored by Ukraine for his services with one of the country’s highest decorations. Sefcovic did not directly address his relationship with Fico. The MPs also expect Sefcovic to say more clearly what is expected of him. In concrete terms, this concerns environmental laws that the Commission has announced but not yet proposed. (sda/dpa)