Navracsics will most likely get a reduced portfolio
Csaba Molnár, MEP of the opposition Democratic Coalition, told reporters that the culture and education committee first decided that Navracsics was suitable for commissioner by 15-10 votes with two abstentions. A second vote to decide whether he should be given the proposed portfolio went against Navracsics 14-12 votes with one abstention, Molnár said.
Andrea Bocskor, MEP of Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party and member of the culture and education committee, said it would be up to incoming European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker if Navracsics should be given a reduced portfolio or a completely different one. Bocskor said much of the criticism Navracsics had received at the hearing had been of a political nature, rather than concerning his professional experience. Those voting against the candidate mostly questioned his commitment to European values or said that his political background was not acceptable for a commissioner, Bocskor said.
MEPs of the ruling Fidesz and Christian Democratic parties said Navracsics’s hearing in the European Parliament had been an “especially great success” in light of the “political and ideological attacks of recent weeks”. Their statement said: “In effect, nobody could question his experience. The leftist majority of the committee, however, proposed that the content of his portfolio should be changed, as it is expected in the case of other commissioners, too.”
Hungarian Socialist MEP Tibor Szanyi said it would not be easy for Juncker to find another portfolio for Navracsics, because in most cases the hearings have been held and the majority of candidates have won support. Sources in Brussels told Hungarian state news agency MTI that Navracsics’s portfolio could be stripped of EU citizenship affairs, which could then go to Frans Timmermans, incoming vice-president of the Commission.
Opposition E-PM said the European parliamentary committee’s rejection of Navracsics for the portfolio is a warning to the government that its policies run contrary to European values. E-PM’s Nóra Hajdú called on the government to “return to the European path” and nominate a “worthy and suitable” candidate.
Radical nationalist party Jobbik called it “hypocrisy” that Navracsics had “tried to distance himself from the government” during his hearing when he had been a member of the government until just recently.
Juncker is not planning to redistribute portfolios in the new Commission in light of the committee’s assessment of answers given by Navracsics to six questions put by its members, the president’s spokesperson said. Natasha Bertaud said Juncker welcomed that “some barriers have been removed”, such as the committee’s support for Navracsics as a commissioner.
During his hearing Navracsics said he was committed to the freedom of opinions, in response to Danish conservative MEP Rikke Karlsson’s criticism that he had been a member of the Hungarian government when it approved its controversial media laws. Navracsics noted that he was a negotiator with the Council of Europe and the European Commission, helping to smooth out disputed issues, which were resolved and Hungary amended the law where necessary.
He pledged that he would not be influenced by party lines in seeking cooperation during his mission. He said he believed in the basic principles enshrined in the EU’s treaty and vowed to be independent as a commissioner.
