As they finished a marathon series of confirmation hearings, the European Parliament is to hold a confidence vote in the new European Commission next week, dpa quoted officials as saying today. The commission is the European Union's executive, which drafts its laws and makes sure member states enforce them. Under EU rules, the commission can only start its five-year mandate once the parliament has approved it. Each member state appoints one commissioner. Leaders of the parliament's political groups have now agreed to schedule the vote for Tuesday. The last commission's mandate expired at the end of November, but the new body's approval has been repeatedly delayed. First, the EU had to wait for the approval by all 27 member states of the Lisbon Treaty, which changes many of its rules, including on the make-up of the commission. The treaty had been scheduled to come into force on January 1, 2009, but actually came into force 11 months later due to political hold-ups in Ireland and the Czech Republic. With the treaty in place, the approval vote had been set for January 26. But members of the parliament (MEPs) refused to accept Bulgaria's nominee for the post of humanitarian aid commissioner, Rumiana Jeleva, accusing her of incompetence and lying. Jeleva resigned on January 19, but it took until February 3 to arrange the confirmation hearing of her replacement, World Bank vice-president Kristalina Georgieva. Georgieva sailed through the hearing on Wednesday. MEPs are now expected to approve the commission in return for its approval of a deal giving them more power over EU law-making.
