Maltese European Commissioner-designate Helena Dalli was seen by MEPs as having given a ‘convincing impression of her aptitude to be a member of the College of Commissioners and to carry out the specific tasks assigned to her,” assessment letters prepared by the European Parliament and issued on Thursday show.
Dr Dalli was grilled by MEPs on October 2 and was given immediate approval, but the actual appointment of the new European Commission was held up because the initial nominees by France, Romania and Hungary were rejected. New candidates have since been presented and the European Parliament is due to take its final vote on the whole commission next week, clearing the way for its formal appointment on December 1.
The evaluation letters were prepared by the chairs of the committees that fall within the area of responsibility of each commissioner.
Dr Dalli will be the Equality Commissioner.
The Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality and the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs said they had given a positive assessment of Dr Dalli for her European commitment, ability to communicate and take initiatives, aptitude as regards the specific policy area, and personal qualifications.
She showed a good knowledge in the field of equality, expressed a strong commitment to deliver on her portfolio, and showed great empathy for vulnerable groups. She was also found to be a convinced feminist.
However, she had not sufficiently covered some topics in her field of responsibility particularly disability, a strategy on how to remove legal barriers to employability, specific measures for return to work assistance, education on equality and diversity, binding measures on gender pay and the pensions gap and measures to combat violence against women.
MEPs forming part of the small Identity and Democracy (ID) group and the European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR) voted against Dr Dalli.
The ID group considered Dr Dalli unsuitable because of her failure to reply to some questions, such as how long a baby can develop in the womb before it cannot be aborted. She also ‘showed a political bias’ when she took offence at questions posed to her by some groups. “Instead of really listening to the question, she imagined what that group meant, demonstrating a prejudice. A commission for equality should not be prejudiced,” the group said.
The ECR group said it did not believe that Dr Dalli was willing to take into account and respect the customs and traditions of individual member states, particularly with regards to some member states’ policies on sexual and reproductive health rights. The Polish delegation was particularly concerned whether she would respect the member states’ competencies on the protection of life.