Financiarul

The European Commissioner-designate for Agriculture, Dacian Ciolos, has obtained the assent of the European Parliament Committee on Agriculture (AGRI), following the hearings held on Friday morning, in Brussels.

“I can say that Dacian Ciolos is one of the few commissioners who benefits of such a back up within the EP expert committees because, as you know, he received applause twice during the hearings on Friday.

He gave accurate replies and he did a very good job. All coordinators, at the end of the hearings, voted unanimously (for Dacian Ciolos) not only from EPP and S&D, but all the other groups – ALDE, European Conservatives and Reformers (ECR), the Greens, the Europe of Freedom and Democracy and communists (European United Left/Nordic Green Left – GUE/NGL – editor’s note)”, stated AGRI president Paolo de Castro (S&D).

AGRI president added that this committee will support Dacian Ciolos in his future efforts to keep a consistent budget for agriculture per total EU budget. In the AGRI hearings Ciolos said that the current allocated budget by the European Union allows the functioning of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and voiced hope a substantial budget will continue to be earmarked for EU agriculture.

“I think I was clear enough, also in the written answers given on the questionnaire to EP. I think that the current budget allows the functioning of CAP and that a consistent budget should be maintained. I assure you I will come up in the Commissioners College with arguments for the maintenance of an important budget for CAP. We could not build a consistent CAP, if we fail to have an adequate budget”, said the European Commissioner-designate.

Results of the hearings are conveyed to the European Parliament president and examined by the presidents’ conference – formed of EP president and all the presidents of EP political groups – but also by the Conference of the committee presidents. President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso will present later on the College of the commissioners-designate and their programmes during a plenary sitting of the Parliament, where the EU Council is invited. The presentation is to be followed by a debate.

Finally, EP gives its vote for the approval of the European Commission in its entirety on Jan. 26. Then, the new commission can be officially appointed by the Council, through qualified majority vote.