Lawmakers began grilling would-be members of the next European Commission Monday, with a personal tale of bereavement bringing unexpected poignancy to the start of hearings to confirm Ursula von der Leyen's top team. The hearings offer a rare opportunity for the EU parliament to flex its muscles against the bloc's powerful executive -- and the outside chance a candidate may stumble has kept Brussels on its toes. But the process got off to a smooth start, with the first four commissioner-designates -- Maros Sefcovic of Slovakia, Malta's Glenn Micallef, Apostolos Tzitzikostas of Greece and Luxembourg's Christophe Hansen -- comfortably dealing with a three-hour quizzing.
Lawmakers quickly gave Sefcovic and Micallef, the first two up, the green light, according to parliamentary sources. The jury was still out for Tzitzikostas and Hansen but no surprises were expected. Hansen, who is to take up the agriculture portfolio, became emotional as he recounted the recent death of his brother, a farmer, when responding to a question on the mental health pressures faced by farmers.
The brother "fell in the stairs" in what Hansen said was an accident that, while not directly caused by mental health, was linked to work stress. "There are so many others that suffer accidents because they don't get to sleep, because they don't get to rest for a moment," he said. Citing delays in the payment of subsidies, pressure from banks and the need for large investments, Hansen said his overworked brother.