Brussels, 02/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - Not sufficiently convinced by the performance of the UK's commissioner-designate for financial stability, financial services and capital markets union, Jonathan Hill, the European Parliament's economic and monetary affairs (ECON) committee has asked this British Conservative to return for another assessment.
“The coordinators have made a unanimous decision to suspend the assessment so as to gather further clarification and information from the commissioner-designate”, said the chair of the ECON committee, Roberto Gualtieri (S&D, Italy), on Thursday 2 October. In Gualtieri's opinion, there is wide consensus on Hill's “personal qualities” - but there is also wide consensus on the need to obtain “more concrete answers on some of the issues raised during the hearing” (see EUROPE 11167).
Despite the doubts raised by all political groups, the EPP and ECR Groups were ready to give Hill their green light. It is the MEPs from the Left that are at the root of the decision for another interview with him. “Our request for a vote put others under pressure. As a result they made a proposal to hold an extraordinary second hearing with Hill”, said Fabio de Masi (GUE/NGL, Germany). The exchange of views, which does not constitute a second hearing, will take place in public on Monday 6 or Tuesday 7 October. Similar situations arose at the hearings of outgoing commissioners Neelie Kroes and Algirdas Semeta.
The MEPs believe that Hill was not detailed enough when he answered questions on specific issues. “He failed to provide concrete answers on specific issues such as the capital markets union, shadow banking or the European deposit guarantee scheme”, said Elisa Ferreira (S&D, Portugal), who nevertheless praised Hill's communicative abilities. (MB)