Brussels, 04/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - Earnest, a do-er, impeccable commitment to Europe, determined to get the single market working better for consumers and to incorporate consumer interests into all relevant policy areas, but little in the way of his own ideas and short on detail, for instance, on plans for class action in the EU or passenger rights, to make a mark on the European Commission towards the end of the current term of office. This was the general impression given in Brussels on Tuesday 4 June at the hearing before two European Parliament committees of Croatian diplomat Neven Mimica, commissioner-designate for consumer policy from 1 July 2013, the day when Croatia joins the European Union, until 31 October 2014, the end of the current term of office.
If his appointment is approved by the European Parliament, Mimica will become the 28th European Commissioner, and he stood up well to the questioning by 30 MEPs from the internal market and consumer protection committee, chaired by Malcolm Harbour (ECR, United Kingdom), and the environment, health and food safety committee, chaired by Mathias Groote (S&D, Germany), despite the fact that the new commissioner would only have to deal with consumer issues, as healthcare, tobacco and food safety will remain in the hands of Maltese commissioner Tonio Borg, explained Harbour at the start of the hearing.
The analysis of the commissioner-designate's statement of interests by the EP's legal committee showed that there were no problems to report. This is important because the big hearing of new commissioners-designate aims to probe the politicians' commitment to the European ideal and personal independence, based on knowledge of their potential portfolios and the pertinence of their priorities for the areas in question. There is not a shadow of doubt about the Croatian economist's commitment to Europe. He has been his country's deputy prime minister since 2011 and prepared Croatia's accession negotiations for joining the EU, but his often diplomatic answers frustrated some MEPs, saying on more than one occasion that he couldn't answer the question until the Commission had formulated its proposals. As soon as the hearing was over, the EPP therefore expressed doubt about the commissioner-designate's commitment to important issues and is planning to request an additional hearing. The Social Democrats, on the other hand, welcomed his good, honest and reliable performance and said they would recommend his appointment when the plenary votes on the matter (the vote is scheduled for 12 June).
At the start of the hearing, Nimica said he considered it a privilege to be designated to be potentially his country's first European commissioner, saying that, if he is confirmed as consumer commissioner, then he would make changes to citizens' daily lives, stressing (as he had explained in his written responses to a questionnaire prepared by MEPs) that he had three priority areas:
1) consolidating the existing legal framework for medical devices, product safety and bank accounts, along with adopting and implementing legislation on out-of-court settlement of consumer disputes and the EU rules on cosmetics;
2) close, regular cooperation with other commissioners, relevant national authorities and the European Parliament. He said that consumer policy could only be strong if it is incorporated across the board into other policies. He said that, at the European Commission itself, the voice of consumers would be heard through the seeking of strong alliances with commissioners whose portfolios impact on the life of consumers to ensure that consumer interests and expectations are taken into account. He said he had sounded out no fewer than 11 commissioners to work closely with, saying that the EP would be crucial in his view as consumer policy is the policy of citizens, and citizens are represented by the EP. He said that a new broom needed to sweep clean in areas which do not operate so well for consumers and cooperation with international partners, like China, will intensify to ensure high food safety standards.
3) active communication to promote policies in favour of consumers. He said more targeted information was required, drafted in clear language to give consumers confidence and certainty in the single market. Consumers need protection and the right of appeal, stated the commissioner-designate, recognising that progress was needed in cutting energy bills for consumers and ensuring lasting, safer goods. Progress was also needed in adjusting to digital change and the globalisation of markets. If he succeeded, he said, then his value-added would lead to greater turnout in the European polls in May 2014.
Andreas Schwab (EPP, Germany) asked Mimica how he intended to improve the way internal market rules are transposed without new legislation and what provisions should apply. Mimica referred to the plethora of texts “related to consumer protection” but also mentioned online consumer participation, VAT neutrality and passenger rights as “points that can be improved”. Heide Ruehle (Greens/EFA, Germany) criticised the absence of risk definition and the lack of a precautionary principle in the most recent February draft regulation on market supervision for ensuring product safety. The commissioner-designate simply explained that “what needs to be done is to make the risk analysis framework clearer and improve cooperation among market supervision authorities, ans ensure that they share best practices” in this connection.
In response to Evelyne Gebhardt (S&D, Germany), who asked him whether he was in favour of a collective appeals system for complaints related to faulty goods, the commissioner-designate replied in the affirmative, “on the condition that such a system respects the respective national legal corpus and traditions”. Nonetheless, he did not provide an answer to the question of what proposal he would put forward to make progress on this issue. In reply to Philippe Juvin (EPP, France), who asked him to give his personal opinion on the nature of safeguards that could be included and whether they needed to extend these collective appeals to environmental law, Mimica explained that it would be difficult to go into the details of a proposal that is not on the table and that the safeguards could be based on the different national traditions. He also said that they needed a step-by-step approach. In the context of barriers to e-commerce, Morten Lokkegaard (ALDE, Denmark) asked “how can you be sure that citizens and SMEs will not be discriminated against over the question of where they live?” The commissioner-designate explained that single market restrictions were not acceptable and had to disappear.
Gebhardt, the spokesperson for the S&D Group, said that “Mr Mimica appears to be a politician who is concerned by the interests of citizens. He does not appear to be someone who will get lost in political manoeuvrings”. Schwab, the coordinator of the EPP Group in the single market and consumers committee, declared that “Neven Mimica's seriousness does not need to be proved any more but before being confirmed as a European commissioner he will have to provide more concrete answers to MEPs' questions”. If the European Parliament votes in favour on 12 June, the appointment is expected to be confirmed by the Council before 1 July. (AN/transl.fl)