Social Democrats Push for Parliamentary Vote on EU Commissioners
The parliamentary faction of Social Democrats want the parliament to discuss the candidate for the European Union Commissioner, while the Reform Party points to a possible conflict if the EC does not approve the candidate endorsed by the Estonian parliament.
The Social Democrats want to introduce a hearing in the parliament and a vote for the candidate. Currently, the post is appointed by the government, ETV reported on Tuesday.
According to Marianne Mikko from the Social Democrat faction, the public and the parliament have no way of influencing the choice or determining the aspiring commissioner’s competence in EU issues, instead, party political considerations and private deals may be behind the appointment.
However, their coalition partner, the Reform Party, pointed out that parliamentary committees vote on the candidate in many member states. Former prime minister Andrus Ansip, the likely candidate for EU commissioner, said the European Parliament and the head of the European Commission have right to reject candidates selected by the national parliament, which raises the issue of supremacy.
Priit Toobal from the Center Party said the candidate should have two thirds of the parliament’s votes instead of the 51 out of 101 suggested in the bill.
Estonia has to pick its candidate by the end of the year.