Brussels, 21/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - MEPs displayed a certain clemency when they admitted on Tuesday 21 October that Violeta Bulc would be part of the Juncker team at the end of a rather subdued hearing due to its having been prepared hastily. The coordinators of the European Parliament's transport committee (TRAN) are recommending that the Slovenian candidate perfects her knowledge, but itjudge her suitable for the post of Commissioner for Transport.
Speedy preparation. The Slovenian liberal is relatively new in politics and only had four days to prepare her main hearing before MEPs in Strasbourg on Monday 20 October. She came over to MEPs as rather nervous but continually smiling and even jovial. She used her experience as the head of a successful telecoms company to convince members of the TRAN committee and mentioned, in passing, the importance of information and communication networks and technologies in the transport field. Nonetheless, it did not take the MEPs very long to detect certain weaknesses in the candidate's knowledge. No clear proposal emerged during the debate.
Disappointment over social questions. The candidate also stumbled when using terminology involving regulation and financing. She found it difficult to put up a convincing argument regarding social issues, which are very dear to the heart of the members of the TRAN committee and who were initially reassured by the first candidate for the post, Maros Sefcovic, in this respect. Although Bulc indeed confirmed that she was in favour of promoting social dialogue and opposed social dumping, particularly in the road transport sector, she failed to present any concrete solutions and simply mentioned the need to “get rid of the reasons for social dumping and incorporate social rights” into the context of business activities. She did not provide any guarantee that road cabotage would not be liberalised, despite this being a very sensitive subject, and asserted at the end of the hearing that “if we see that there are benefits, I would support this idea”.
Loyalty to the principles. In the majority of areas, Bulc remained loyal to the line advocated by the European Commission. With regard to the 4th Railway Package, she defended the need for financial transparency (in this connection she also referred to her entrepreneurial experience) and the need to negotiate the package as a whole, without separating the political and technical sections. In the field of infrastructure funding, Bulc promised to apply the “use or lose” principle for European funds and supported the “polluter pays” principle as long as toll-booth projects did not discriminate (in reference to German intentions in this respect). In response to a variety of questions, she confirmed that passenger rights, the maritime sector and inland river ways would be on the agenda. On the other hand, she provided rather unconvincing answers to questions about implementation of the European Single Sky by the member states, the ban on cross-border traffic of mega lorries and the Lyon-Turin project backed by the EU.
Treading on hot coals. Overall, MEPs proved relatively clement with the Slovenian candidate and did not ask her any extremely tricky questions. On a number of occasions, she also managed to raise a few smiles by her spontaneity and enthusiasm and affirmed that she liked “to “fly” and “nature” in response to questions about aviation and greening transport. Ending her conclusion on a humorous note and with a reference to her shamanic initiations, she was ultimately guaranteed the sympathy of MEPs: “you know, I learned to walk on fire. At certain times I believed I was going to burn myself during the hearing but that did not happen!”
Pressed for time. MEPs thus showed clemency, particularly because approving the future Commission in time was at stake. During their assessment, the coordinators largely took into account the lack of time Bulc had had to prepare. They therefore decided to place their trust in her the following day, despite reservations expressed by all the groups (for example, relating to her answers on mega lorries, regional airports and the Lyon-Turin railway line). This was done without a vote, although the Conservatives had asked for one.
A charged letter. The confirmation letter sent to Junker is expected to include recommendations for Bulc to improve her knowledge and outline her intentions in a written work programme and during her next TRAN committee intervention. This letter is also expected to include a section criticising the nomination procedure set out by Juncker. One European Parliament source explained that the coordinators had not wished to penalise Bulc for the miscasting and the procedure adopted by Juncker - who had made her portfolio the adjustment factor in the composition of his team. (MD)