Explanations from the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen regarding the selection process for the appointment of MEP Markus Pieper of the European People’s Party, as EU envoy for small and medium-sized enterprises, four Commissioners request in a letter.
More specifically, according to Politico, EU foreign policy chief Giuseppe Borrell, Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, Employment and Social Rights Commissioner Nicolas Schmitt and Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni asked in a letter to the president of the European Commission herself to inform them about this position. As they stated in the letter dated March 27, which requests that the issue be raised at the next meeting of the College of Commissioners: “The selection of Pieper for this position raised questions about the transparency, but also the impartiality of the process.”
It is noted that all four co-signatories do not belong to the European People’s Party and it is obvious that the letter is part of the political confrontation in the context of the pre-election campaign in view of the European elections. Despite this, the issue is considered important since many other publications record that the placement of Pieper was done with practices that do not resemble… Europe.
According to a report in La Matinale Européenne, the other two candidates who had been shortlisted for the post of media envoy, both women, scored better than Pieper in the selection process.
One of them, the Czech MEP with Renew, Martina Dlabazova, confirmed in her statements to Politico that she filed a formal complaint with the Commission about the process.
In addition, a group of MEPs from the Greens, Renew, Socialists and Democrats and the Left submitted a written question to the Commission asking to clarify how Pieper was rated, what “additional qualifications” gave him an advantage over the other candidates and whether his participation in the European People’s Party played a role in the final selection. They have not yet received a response.
In his letter, the Commissioners said, among other things, that the answer to these questions is a matter for the Commission as a whole and that they “consider it appropriate for the College to collectively discuss the answers to these allegations.”
According to an unnamed official cited by Politico, von der Leyen has yet to respond to the letter.
Read also: Von der Leyen under the microscope of European prosecutors for the agreements with Pfizer
Von der Leyen invests in ‘war’ for a second term – And tries to convince Europe
#Commission #Ursula #von #der #Leyen #denounced #top #Commissioners #for…Rusfet
