It is through his mastery of legal issues and his ease that the European Commissioner-designate for Justice, Didier Reynders, succeeded, on Wednesday 2 October, in his hearing before the European Parliament's Committees on Civil Liberties (LIBE), Legal Affairs (JURI) and Consumer Protection (IMCO).
The hearing went smoothly overall and even ended with applause. However, the allegations of money laundering and corruption made against him (see EUROPE 12339/29) could have tarnished his image, but the Belgian decided to take the lead and clear the air as soon as he began his hearing.
The Prosecutor's Office had closed the case without further action on last 27 September, given the "absence of an offence", he recalled. And in defence of the second complaint against him earlier this week, he said that the accuser in question was deliberately trying to harm him and had even publicly stated that he wanted to prevent him from becoming a European Commissioner.
"Unfortunately, each and every one of us can be exposed to this kind of malicious attack. I don't want anyone to experience what my family, friends, children, wife and I have been through over the past two weeks", he said, before launching into: "The rule of law is also the presumption of innocence".
Naturally, the MEPs of the far-right group Identity and Democracy (ID) did not fail to come back on the offensive. The Belgian Tom Vandendriessche thus asked him if these accusations were true. The British non-attached MEP from the Brexit Party, Anne Widdecombe, asked him if he would withdraw while the case was ongoing. "No", replied Mr. Reynders, who said has no intention of "taking a break or resigning", but intends to defend himself.
Defending the rule of law
As in his written replies (EUROPE 12337/9), Didier Reynders affirmed his willingness to stand up for the rule of law. "For more than three years, I have been advocating within the EU Council for a peer review of the rule of law", he said.
Asked by Andrzej Halicki (EPP, Poland) about the tools he would use, the Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence explained that the establishment of a European mechanism for annual monitoring of the rule of law (see EUROPE 12328/2) will be at the heart of his mandate and even promised a first report in the first year of the new Commission.
"But it is only one of the tools in the toolbox", he said, mentioning also the activation of Article 7, infringement proceedings before the Court of Justice of the European Union, dialogue with Member States, or the introduction of conditionality on the granting of European funding by making it subject to respect for the rule of law.
To the Slovak MP Michal Šimečka (RE), he announced that he would propose the establishment of a working group on the rule of law, fundamental rights and democracy, involving the Commission, the European Parliament and the EU Council. On the other hand, he was cautious about the idea of a group of independent experts to assess the rule of law, put forward by the Parliament. "I am not against the possibility of consulting and discussing with independent experts, but perhaps not creating a new body", he replied, considering that the responsibility lay with the Commission.
Intrigued by the absence of a reference to Article 7 in his written replies, Katarina Barley (S&D, Germany) asked him if he intended to be "less strict" than his predecessor. "Rest assured, I want to move forward and use all the tools, including Article 7, for proceedings already under way, but also eventually for other cases", replied the Commissioner-designate.
Justice and consumer protection
On the ‘Justice’ aspect, Didier Reynders promised to consider a right of access to justice in the event of serious crimes committed by countries in order to fight climate change, to revise, if necessary, the European Arrest Warrant, to ensure the timely establishment of the European Public Prosecutor's Office, but also to continue to wage war on 'Golden Visas'.
As for consumer protection, Mr Reynders confirmed his intention to press for a collective redress mechanism at European level, to continue work on the risks of dual quality of products and confirmed his intention to present a coordinated approach on the human and ethical implications of artificial intelligence.
Asked by Manon Aubry (GUE/NGL, France) about a possible proposal for a directive to establish a duty of vigilance for companies and punish those who violate human rights, he was cautious. "Voluntary approaches are clearly not enough; therefore, we will have to go beyond that", he replied.
It was on whistleblowers that he probably was not as convincing. "I had the impression that I had dealt with Dr Didier and Mr Reynders", David Cormand (Greens/EFA, France) told him, pointing out the weakness of the Belgian draft law, while at the European level, Mr Reynders advocates for an ambitious level. His answer was: "I reassure you: whatever personal experiences I may have had, I want to guarantee the protection of whistleblowers".
Green light from the coordinators
The same day, the coordinators of all political groups for the LIBE and JURI committees approved his candidacy, confirmed a parliamentary source to EUROPE. Only the ID group opposed it, because of "his overly punitive conception of European integration", explained Gilles Lebreton (ID, France).
"The hearing was relevant (...) and what we saw was that Didier Reynders is an experienced personality (...) and that he demonstrated his ability to answer questions directly. When asked to answer 'yes' or 'no', he did so and he came with the political will to meet the challenges ahead", said the Chair of the LIBE Committee Juan Fernando López Aguilar (S&D, Spain), at a press conference after the hearing.
Didier Reynders remained undisturbed throughout, even after a sudden power failure plunged the room into darkness and forced MEPs to resume the hearing in another room forty minutes later. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)