Between 4 and 12 November, the European Parliament held all confirmation hearings for the Commissioners-designate and Executive Vice-Presidents-designate. Hungary’s proposal for the Commissioner role and the six EVP-designates are a point of contention at the moment among the Political Groups for reasons related to vested interests of the Political Groups rather than any reference to the performance of the candidates in the hearings. The EVP-designate Roxana Minzatu’s hearing was the most important for the education and training sector, and below you can find LLLP’s perspective on her performance. Though she has been lauded by the MEPs on her competences in the sector, the EPP political group raises questions on Minzatu’s integrity due to a controversial expansion of her house in native Romania.
Based on the public hearing, Roxana Minzatu appeared, overall, in control of her portfolio, with assured responses and personal stories linked to the different files in education and training, such as her recounting the lack of resources that prevented her from going on an Erasmus+ mobility. Though concerns can be raised that she echoed the general language of the European Commission when it comes to the incoherent split between education (all formal education) and skills (all adult education), she has largely gained a good command of the portfolios entrusted to her.
If anything, critical points for civil society in the sector relate to the balance in her portfolio between education and employment priorities.
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