Glenn Micallef, Malta's nominee to join the European Commission, will be hoping to perform well on Monday when MEPs question him on his prospective role.
Micallef will face the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education (CULT), the EP body responsible for overseeing his work should he be appointed commissioner.
Should he demonstrate competence to handle the portfolio for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture, and Sport, little stands in his way of joining the EU’s executive body.
“There’s no big push to get Micallef out, so if he is able to answer the questions with competence, and shows that he has mastered his portfolio, he should be okay,” one European People’s Party (EPP) source close to the proceedings said.
Since he is the Labour Party government’s choice to join the Cabinet of Commissioners, Micallef is considered a candidate from the PL’s European party family, the Social Democrats.
Besides the socialists, seven other political groupings are represented in the CULT committee. The EPP, of which the PN is part, is the biggest group in the committee with eight members out of 30.
'He just needs to know his stuff'
However, several sources said that Micallef’s political affiliation is unlikely to be a determining factor on Monday.
“The CULT committee is generally consensus-based and not as confrontational as other committees. He just needs to know his stuff, and I think he should manage to do that,” one source said.
PN leader Bernard Grech said on Sunday that his party was backing Micallef and as a Maltese, he hoped he would do well. He however criticised the government for having failed to secure for Malta the portfolio of Commissioner for the Mediterranean.
Micallef will be in the first cohort of Commissioner-Designate hearings, which will continue until November 12.
Hearings become more politicised as the Commissioner-Designate grilling schedule progresses.
“Being first helps him. He will not be part of the big political fight that could come later,” one source said.
Youngest nominee
Other sources close to the proceedings said Micallef appears prepared, having met with most committee members who will question him on Monday.
At 35 Micallef is the youngest of the nominees to become commissioners and the first time Malta has not nominated a politician for the job. His nomination was a surprise, with former and current cabinet members warning that MEPs may struggle to see beyond his political inexperience.
An EU policy expert, he served as chief of staff to Prime Minister Robert Abela.
The committee members will not formally vote to approve Micallef, but following the grilling, the party groupings represented in the committee will discuss his performance.
The coordinators of each party grouping will then hold an informal vote on whether to accept Micallef’s nomination.
There is no formal vote on Micallef’s appointment to the European Commission, as the EP only takes one formal vote, approving or rejecting the College of Commissioners as a whole.