A multifaceted civil servant, who moved from the European Parliament to various Commission Directorates-General (including DG Health under Barroso I) before becoming the Commission's chief spokesman, Greek candidate Margaritis Schinas, nominated for the post of Vice-President in charge of Protecting Our European Way of Life, promised to be a Commissioner as close as possible to the MEPs.
"From my personal experience, it is essential that our relationships be open, transparent and based on mutual trust. I will remain at the disposal of the European Parliament throughout my term of office to discuss any matter falling within my personal competence. I will also ensure that the same practice applies to my office, Commissioners, Commission services and services under my responsibility", he writes to MEPs in written replies prior to his hearing, scheduled for 3 October.
In charge of coordinating such vast fields as migration, education, health or digital skills, it is mainly on the controversial topic of the "European way of life" that the Greek will be expected to answer.
Invited by the relevant committees (LIBE, CULT) to define this concept, Margaritis Schinas explained first of all that the Treaty "reminds us that the EU is based on respect for human dignity in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between men and women prevail". According to him, "being European means respecting our diversity and promoting a way of life that emphasises these values of inclusion and solidarity". And it is the diversity of cultures in the Member States that "makes us Europeans", that is what must be protected - he goes on to say, without at any time linking the protection of this way of life and migration, the latter area he does consider to be part of his portfolio, in the same way as skills in education or the inclusive nature of societies, particularly for people with disabilities.
On legal migration, an area for which Ursula von der Leyen has asked him to find new avenues, the Greek candidate is a little more forthcoming and indicates that legal migration will help to meet demographic challenges and labour shortages. Far from taking a stand against the arrival of migrants, which the President-designate was suspected of in naming the portfolio as she has, the Vice-President-designate believes that, on the contrary, legal channels must be developed to prevent migrants from taking to the sea.
Legal migration is also a way of maintaining good relations with non-Member States. On the "Asylum" package, he merely recalled that the President would present a new "Pact" which would have to put in place sustainable and comprehensive mechanisms, based on the values of tolerance, solidarity and humanity. Link to the answers: https://bit.ly/2nciMcK (Solenn Paulic)