The European Commissioner-designate for Trade and Interinstitutional Relations, Maroš Šefčovič, is well on the way to being confirmed by MEPs. According to the chairs of the parliamentary committees on International Trade and on Constitutional Affairs that heard him on Monday 4 November, the candidate showed himself to be competent on the matters he may cover.
“Maroš Šefčovič is a reliable player in the trade sector”, said Bernd Lange, chair of the European Parliament Committee on International Trade, after the hearing. In his view, it would be “surprising if people were to say that he is not capable of carrying out the duties of Commissioner”.
China. The European Parliament was particularly keen to hear what the Slovakian had to say about the EU’s attitude towards China, with which trade tensions are mounting.
In line with his written answers, Mr Šefčovič did not hesitate to affirm the European Commission’s determination to defend the Union’s interests vis-à-vis Beijing, which he described as a complex and “often difficult” partner. “I will anticipate our risk reduction strategy. We cannot afford costly dependencies or tolerate coercive practices”, he said of EU-China relations.
His compatriot Miriam Lexmann (EPP) called for guarantees on this point, citing the complacency of the Slovak President, Robert Fico, towards China, who is from the SMER party like Maroš Šefčovič. “My personal history allows me to demonstrate that I have always worked to defend European interests”, retorted the candidate for a fourth term as Commissioner.
Asked about Beijing’s response to the imposition of tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, the Slovakian said that the Commission would go all the way to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to defend the interests of European farmers who are paying the price of retaliatory measures (see EUROPE 13499/27).
A number of MEPs also expressed concern about Chinese overcapacity in the steel, aluminium and cement sectors. Here too, the EU will do its utmost to defend European producers, including through the use of trade defence tools, said the Commissioner-designate. In his view, the tariffs and safeguard measures in place on a number of Chinese products have reduced the volume of these goods on the European market.
Securing strategic supplies. Economic security inevitably involves reducing dependencies in strategic sectors such as critical raw materials. This is why the European Commissioner-designate repeatedly stressed his desire to conclude sectoral agreements that are “more agile and compact” than traditional free trade agreements.
The EU-Australia Memorandum of Understanding in this area will make a major contribution to this objective of diversifying sources of supply, he said.
EU-Mercosur agreement. Mr Šefčovic was asked a series of questions on the EU-Mercosur trade agreement. French MEPs from all groups were unanimous in denouncing the agreement, which they said would have a harmful impact on European farmers. Sweden’s Jörgen Warborn (EPP), on the other hand, argued for a swift conclusion to the treaty, which he sees as beneficial for all sides.
The negotiators on both sides, in any case, are not yet ready to conclude discussions, said the Commissioner-designate. “I can assure you that, in these negotiations, we are hypervigilant when it comes to the benefits of the agreement. We would never support an agreement that was not in the European interest”, he repeatedly stated.
In response to some MEPs’ insistence on the potentially negative impact of the agreement, the Commissioner-designate added: “As soon as we know that the negotiations are entering their final phase, we will come back to you with all the necessary information. I would ask for a discussion based on facts and figures. Europe is an agricultural superpower. The latest agreements we have signed have all led to an increase in European agricultural exports”.
While accepting that farmers’ fears about the agreement had to be taken into account, he called for the framework to be looked at as a whole: “We are no longer Latin America’s leading trade partner. We need to be more present, to be a better partner for these important countries”.
Ukraine. The EU’s autonomous trade measures abolishing all tariffs on agricultural imports from Ukraine will expire in June 2025, and the European Parliament wants to know what will happen to trade at that point.
Karin Karlsbro (Renew Europe, Swedish) believed that support for Ukrainian exporters should be maintained, while Anna Bryłka (PfE, Polish) and Rihards Kols (ECR, Latvian) said that solutions should be found to protect sensitive agricultural sectors from imports.
The European Commissioner-designate assured that European and Ukrainian negotiators were working on a solution that would work for everyone and, above all, pave the way for Kyiv’s potential future within the Union.
Reducing the administrative burden. In response to a question from Jörgen Warborn (EPP, Swedish) on the administrative burden reduction targets (-25% for large companies, -35% for SMEs) set by Ms von der Leyen, Maroš Šefčovič pointed to the progress made during the current Commission mandate, which he said was equivalent to a gain of “€7.3 billion”. He recalled that these objectives were cross-cutting and included in the mission statements of all European Commissioners-designate, with a special role for Valdis Dombrovskis (see EUROPE 13515/17).
Institutional affairs. On the reform of the European treaties, Salvatore De Meo (EPP, Italian) and Nikolas Farantouris (The Left, Greek) asked the candidate what initiatives the Commission could take to facilitate discussions, given that the European Council has still not responded to the European Parliament’s request of November 2023 to convene a convention to reform the European treaties.
Mr Šefčovič simply echoed previous statements by Ms von der Leyen: the Commission will be happy to make itself “forthcoming” to present its vision of the dossier, “if and when” the European Council so requests, in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Treaties.
Responding to Sandro Gozi (Renew Europe, Italian) on the institutional reforms needed before EU enlargement, Mr Šefčovič questioned whether Member State unanimity should be required at all technical stages of the EU accession negotiation process, thus making “72 [national] vetoes” possible.
On the subject of transparency, the Commissioner-designate indicated that the text establishing the European Transparency Register would be reviewed, in response to Marieke Ehlers (PfE, Dutch). He recalled that European Commissioners can only meet with representatives of interest groups listed in the register.
Maroš Šefčovič also expressed his wish to make progress in the ongoing negotiations on the revision of the 2010 Interinstitutional Agreement between the European Parliament and the Commission, which will take place on the basis of the principles recently agreed between Presidents Metsola and von der Leyen (see EUROPE 13509/18). (Original version in French by Léa Marchal and Mathieu Bion)