The debate was set to be tense and heated and it was. Throughout her hearing on Wednesday 2 October, which at times took the form of an appearance before a court, the Commissioner-designate for the Internal Market, French liberal Sylvie Goulard, was mocked, criticised and questioned as to her probity, which somewhat overshadowed the examination of her competence with regard to her vast portfolio.
"The presumption of innocence is a fundamental freedom", said Mrs Goulard in response to the hostility and suspicions expressed by many members of the Industry (ITRE) and Internal Market (IMCO) Committees, who have constantly questioned her about the cases that taint her candidacy.
First case is the payment of her local parliamentary assistant which led to her resignation as Minister of Defence in 2017 and is still under investigation by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF). And, second, her highly paid job at the American think tank Berggruen. Both cases during her term as an MEP (see EUROPE 12315/1).
Several MEPs, such as François-Xavier Bellamy (EPP, France) or Christel Schaldemose (S&D, Denmark), were surprised that the same causes were not followed by the same effects: the same facts that led to her resignation in France as minister did not prevent her from applying for the post of Commissioner.
Mrs Goulard had prepared her defence. She claimed that the money reimbursed in the case of her parliamentary assistant related to the period necessary to negotiate the termination of their collaboration amicably, and not to compensate herself, while specifying that she respected OLAF's investigation. "I am a litigant, who respects justice". As for Berggruen, the Commission-designate sees this activity as an extension of her European commitment. A legal activity, she said, while recognising that it was not compatible with an executive function. And to summarise in a succinct sentence: "I am clean", said the Commissioner-designate, speaking in English.
Too large a portfolio? On the substance of the issues, Mrs Goulard put her energy into her pro-European commitment and her long experience in European affairs, sometimes benefiting from a certain complacency on the part of MEPs regarding the highly technical nature of her portfolio.
However, several of them were concerned about the size of the portfolio for a single person. "I am not a superwoman (...), but we are not alone in this adventure", said Mrs Goulard, emphasising the collegial dimension of the Commissioner's work. For her, a commissioner is a "driving force", a "facilitator" who gives a "stimulus" within a collective.
The size of her portfolio and the large number of issues related to her integrity have resulted in putting the dossiers she would have to deal with on the back burner. In both digital and defence, the designated candidate remained relatively superficial.
Digital: no questioning on ‘Safe Harbour’ Asked by a MEP how much time she would spend on digital technology, the Frenchwoman said that it was a subject on which Europe should focus, at the risk of falling behind other countries. "I am unable to say in what proportion, but the digitisation of the economy must benefit industry, take culture into account, be combined with the 'Green Deal".
On specific issues, she made only one announcement: she will not challenge the principle of Safe Harbour, enshrined in the E-Commerce Directive when presenting the future act for digital services.
Concerning artificial intelligence, the Commissioner-designate indicated that she had "a certain number of principles in mind". But she refused to commit before receiving feedback from companies implementing the list of ethics guidelines drawn up by the High Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence (see EUROPE 12283/8). "We'll get started within 100 days. But we will have to do this without losing sight of the traditional sectors, those that need to convert and those that represent the past".
An "open, but not disarmed" Europe. Responding to Manuel Bompard (GUE/NGL, France) on the need to protect the European industrial fabric, particularly the steel industry, from often unfair international competition, Mrs Goulard made her position clear: the EU will remain "open, but not disarmed". On the industrial issue, Mrs Goulard explained that she also preferred to use public/private partnerships rather than amending the State aid rules. "It would go too far".
In general, she insisted on the need to take SMEs into account, not to crush them with bureaucracy. In this respect, Mrs Goulard explained that she preferred the Regulation to the Directive, the former generating less bureaucracy at national level than the latter.
Promotion of the European Defence Fund. Ms. Goulard also put SMEs at the heart of her speech on defence. "Encouraging their participation in the European Defence Fund (EDF) is one of the tasks I have been given", explained the former Minister of the Armed Forces. Mrs Goulard said she will promote the Fund, addressing MEPs' concerns about the control of it and the equitable participation of companies. She called for not holding a trial of intent, arguing that the inclusion of SMEs "could reshuffle the cards", while three companies from three different countries must join forces to apply for the EDF.
The Commissioner-designate also listed other aspects of her 'Defence' portfolio, without going into detail. "All synergies will be exploited between defence technologies and civil industry (...), between space and defence, between transport investments and those promoting military mobility", she promised.
Space. The Frenchwoman focused on two issues in space policy: governance between the European Commission, the future EU Agency for the Space Programme and the European Space Agency (ESA) and the British presence within ESA.
More written questions to be answered. At the end of the hearing, the coordinators of the IMCO and ITRE committees met to take stock of the situation. With the exception of the liberals from Renew Europe group, all the groups expressed their disappointment, finding her either too vague or too timid on her issues.
Each group will send her three questions on Friday morning. Mrs Goulard will have to answer them on Tuesday at the latest. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens, Sophie Petitjean, Camille-Cerise Gessant)