site.btaEP Committees to Hear Bulgarian Commissioner-Designate Iliana Ivanova on September 5

A hearing of Bulgarian Commissioner-designate Iliana Ivanova will take place from 9:30 to 12:30 (Brussels time) on September 5, the European Parliament (EP) announced on Friday. 

Ivanova, who is Commissioner-designate for innovation, research, culture, education and youth, will be questioned by the EP Industry, Research and Energy Committee and the Culture and Education Committee to assess her competences and suitability to replace Mariya Gabriel, who resigned as commissioner on May 15 to become Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Bulgaria.

The hearing can be watched live on European Parliament’s streaming website and on EbS+. 

It will last three hours. The candidate will make a 15-minute introductory statement, which will be followed by questions from MEPs. There will be 25 questions in total: one minute per question, followed by a one-minute answer from the candidate and a possible follow-up question from an MEP. Before the hearing ends, the candidate will be able to give a five-minute statement.

The hearing will immediately be followed by a closed-doors meeting in which the chairs and group representatives (coordinators) of the two committees will evaluate Ivanova’s suitability for the post.

The Conference of Committee Chairs will then assess the outcome of the hearing and forward its conclusions to the Conference of Presidents (which is made up of the President of the European Parliament and political groups’ chairs).  On September 6, the latter will conduct the final evaluation and decide whether to close the hearing process and hold a vote during the September plenary session (September 11-14).