The European Commissioner Günther Oettinger, a fairly controversial figure within the EU institutions, got through the trial of his exchange of views with the MEPs late in the afternoon of Monday 9 January, to discuss his change of portfolio following the departure of Kristalina Georgieva for the World Bank (see EUROPE 11697), without too many difficulties.
Oettinger, who moves from Digital Economy to Budget and Human Resources, was grilled for more than two hours by the members of the committees on the budget, budgetary control and legal affairs of the European Parliament. The members of these committees agreed to the 'Budget' portfolio with no issues, but various Parliamentary groups, including the S&D, opposed the idea of Oettinger taking on human resources due to his recent controversial comments about the Chinese, women and gay marriage.
Conference of the Presidents on Thursday 12 January. The three committees must send a joint letter on the change of Oettinger's portfolio to the Conference of the Presidents of Parliament, which is due to meet on Thursday 12 January.
Parliament's legal committee, which is competent to take position on the 'Human Resources' portfolio, was still discussing the recommendations it wanted to make on Tuesday 10 January, according to one source.
"We do not feel that he should be given the Human Resources responsibility, because this is incompatible with his recent comments and he has not changed his mind on these issues", a source from the S&D group commented.
Oettinger should not be Vice-President. The S&D group also feels that Oettinger should not be promoted to the rank of Vice-President of the Commission. The President of the Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, is incidentally not reported to be planning to make Oettinger a Vice-President. This could be interpreted as a punishment for his ill-judged comments and tardy apologies.
In his introductory statement to the MEPs on Monday evening, Oettinger stressed that he had the skills and experience to take on Budget and Human Resources. A former Minister-President of the German Federal State of Baden-Württemberg, Oettinger pointed out that this region's budget was 40 billion and that he came into this job with a certain amount of experience in the field.
MFF post-2020. Oettinger stressed that the budget is absolutely critical. He said that he would take account of the work of the high-level group on resources, particularly in the proposals to be made by the Commission by the end of 2018 on the multi-annual financial framework (MFF) of the EU post-2020. Oettinger acknowledged that Brexit may have an impact on the post-2020 MFF in the event of any delays. The Commission is working on the principle that Brexit will take place in 2019. The Commissioner said that a discussion with Parliament was needed on whether the post-2020 MFF should be for five years or seven.
On the mid-term revision of the MFF 2014-2020, on which Italy has still not lifted its reservation on the text agreed at the level of the Council (see EUROPE 11688), the new Commissioner for the Budget said that everything possible would be done to conclude on this subject in the coming weeks. He went on to say that he hopes that the Council will obtain a viable negotiating position in the next few days. In answer to questions on taking account of the EP's position on the mid-term revision of the MFF, Oettinger said that he was realistic about an agreement to be reached between the Council and the EP, stating that the Council has an extremely specific vision of the revision of the MFF and knows what it wants. In other words, he acknowledged that the Council has relatively little room for manoeuvre when it comes to taking Parliament's requests on board.
Active recruitment policy. On the subject of the staff of the institutions of the EU, the former Commissioner for the Digital Economy recommended keeping a close eye on the needs of the employment market and not depending on the recruitment policy used by private businesses. He called for a targeted and active recruitment policy to secure the best talent. He reiterated the aim of seeing 40% of senior posts in the institutions of the EU occupied by women by 2019.
Diversity and inclusion. Oettinger confirmed that he is to present a communication on diversity and inclusion within the Commission in the next few weeks. The aim is to preserve equal opportunities and to fight discrimination, he stressed (adding that he is committed to both issues). He went on to say that he wished to see a good balance of national representation and of LGBTI individuals (lesbian, gay, bi, trans and intersex).
Repeated apologies. At a speech in Hamburg to business leaders at the end of October, Oettinger created a storm due to his highly controversial comments about the Chinese, women, gay marriage and the Belgian region of Wallonia. Oettinger told the MEPs that it had not been his intention to offend anybody and that he regretted saying what he did.
Making savings. The staff of the Commission represent less than 6% of the total budget of the EU, but it is important to make savings wherever possible and to work as efficiently as possible, Oettinger said, confirming the target of cutting Commission staff by 5%. He stressed the need not to jeopardise the productivity of those working within the institution.
Brexit. Oettinger hopes to make a contribution in terms of facts, figures, calculating estimated costs, in order to secure fair treatment for European civil servants of British nationality, he stressed. He added that it was important to secure the continuation of the payment of pensions to ensure that there is an ongoing contribution of the United Kingdom to ongoing expenditure.
In answer to a question from Bernd Kölmel (ECR, Germany), the Commission referred to the British rebate (between 6 and €10 billion a year), saying that it will be necessary to see specifically how things pan out once the United Kingdom has triggered the process of its withdrawal from the EU. He spoke of a possible transition period and acknowledged that some of the EU budget's money could be lost once the United Kingdom is no longer a member of the EU.
The power of the lobbies. Oettinger took pains to answer criticism about his alleged links to lobbyists. He came in for criticism in mid-November 2016 for having travelled on board the private jet of German businessman Klaus Mangold, who is believed to have links to Moscow. He never officially notified this encounter to the institutions. He said that he considers himself independent from the lobbies. He went on to say that he has no hesitation in meeting professionals who can help him to better understand technical dossiers. He said that he had made more contributions to the transparency register, adding that it could possibly have been done more completely in the first place. He stressed that he was prepared to listen to SMEs, the craft industry and companies of all sizes. When the head of a company wants to meet a Commissioner, he or she should be able to do so. However, every decision I will make, I will make in complete independence, together with my colleagues, he said.
Payment delays. MEP José Manuel Fernandes (EPP, Portugal) asked the Commissioner about payment appropriations (there are reported to be €7.2 billion in non-executed appropriations, mostly in the field of the cohesion policy). Oettinger said that the Commission wished to avoid such delays in the future in paying its bills. We have to avoid paying at the last minute, he said, in reference to the problems verified at the end of 2013. He urged the countries of the EU to notify their own projects as soon as possible.
Question of legitimacy. "Do you feel that your words in Hamburg and the suspicion over your travel are compatible with an extension of your portfolio and that your apologies will be enough to wipe the slate clean? Do you believe that you are legitimate in your new position?", asked Isabelle Thomas (S&D, France). Oettinger replied by saying that he felt that he was able to carry out transparent work on the basis of his skills and that he hoped to meet the MEPs' expectations and carry out a good budgetary policy.
The Oettinger affair is a "textbook case in everything that can destroy the legitimacy of a political institution, said Pascal Durand (Greens/EFA, France), who said that Oettinger was being promoted when his behaviour instead called for sanctions. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)