The European Parliament is preparing to hear from the European Commissioners-designate between 4 and 12 November, including former Irish Finance Minister Michael McGrath, who is being considered for the post of Commissioner for Democracy, Justice and the Rule of Law.
On Tuesday 8 October, the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) - one of the three committees responsible for the hearing, along with the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) and the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) - and the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) - an invited committee - finalised their written questions, which will be sent to Mr McGrath by 10 October.
Fundamental rights. The LIBE Committee will question Mr McGrath on the implementation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the role of the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), and the protection of personal data, particularly in the context of the General Data Protection Regulation.
The way in which he intends to link this legislation with other EU texts on digital, such as the DSA and the DMA, will also be at the heart of the debates. Questions on international data flows and the EU’s accession to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) will also be addressed.
Rule of law and media freedom. The Irish candidate will also have to explain to the elected representatives how he intends to strengthen the impact of the annual report on the Rule of law and assess its impact on the single market. “How do you respond to Parliament’s call for the scope of the annual report on the Rule of law to be broadened?” to include all the values mentioned in Article 2 of the TEU, MEPs should ask.
Michael McGrath is expected to speak on the follow-up to the so-called ‘Article 7’ procedures and how he will support “Parliament’s call for further hearings under Article 7 of the TEU in the Hungary Case”. He will have to say whether he considers a reform of this ‘Article 7’ procedure to be necessary.
“Will you commit to making full use of the enforcement tools, in particular the accelerated infringement procedures, requests for interim measures before the CJEU and systematic follow-up actions regarding non-implementation of the CJEU judgments?”, they will ask.
Justice. On criminal justice, MEPs want to know his priorities, particularly in terms of judicial cooperation and the fight against corruption. Mr McGrath will also be asked about his support for the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), which is facing budgetary and resource problems, and about its possible extension of powers.
Lastly, the FEMM Committee will question him on how to maintain coherence between equality and justice issues, and on his commitment to combating gender-based violence. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic and Nithya Paquiry)