Helena Dalli will face MEPs for a lengthy grilling on Wednesday afternoon, as part of the process for her to become the European Union's Equality Commissioner. 

Malta’s Equality Minister since 2013, Dr Dalli stepped down from Cabinet this summer to prepare for her assessment by MEPs.

Sources say she has spent the past few weeks studying EU law, acquainting herself with the union’s political systems, and even brushing up on her French to ease her eventual transition onto Europe’s big stage.

Dr Dalli is scheduled to appear before a committee of MEPs at 2.30pm. 

Times of Malta will be live-streaming the proceedings as well as running a live blog with a blow-by-blow account from the Parliament building in Brussels. 

What are the hearings all about?

After approving Ursula Von Der Leyen's nomination as Commission president in July, MEPs must now “examine the competencies and abilities” of her proposed team of commissioners to ensure they are up to the task.

All of the candidates, including Dr Dalli, have already answered a questionnaire covering everything from their financial interests to policy and legislative questions on their respective portfolios. 

You can read Dr Dalli’s replies here.

How do the grillings work? 

Members of 19 committees in the European Parliament must interview the nominees for the European Commission. 

According to EU rules, each hearing begins with the Commissioner-designate making a 15-minute introductory statement. They then respond to 25 questions (with room for follow-ups) asked by MEPs. 

At the end of the session, they are given another five minutes to make a closing address.

The grueling sessions can last up to three hours, with nominees often drawn into a back-and-forth with MEPs if their views do not go down well or if their answers are deemed too vague. 

Once the grilling is over, lead MEPs from each of the committees participating in the hearings will vote on Dr Dalli’s nomination. She will need a two-thirds majority to secure the job. 

The vote happens in secret and the official outcome of their deliberations will only be made public on October 17, when presidents of the various political groupings meet. 

In reality, information about the outcome of hearings tends to leak out of parliament well before that, as MEPs informally discuss the hearings. 

Are the hearings a formality?

Not at all. MEPs take the task extremely seriously and tend to ask difficult questions of nominees. 

Ms Von der Leyen's team got off to an inauspicious start earlier this week, when the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee found that nominees presented by Romania and Hungary had potential conflicts of interest that made them unsuitable to serve as commissioners.

Rather than fight to retain the two nominees, Ms Von der Leyen opted to cut her losses and has asked the two countries to nominate new candidates.

It was the first time that prospective commissioners failed to pass due diligence checks. 

Her problems were compounded on Tuesday, when Poland's commissioner-designate Janusz Wojciechowski failed to impress MEPs. He is expected to be asked to return for a second round of questions.  

Who will ask Dr Dalli questions?

Dr Dalli's equality portfolio cuts across different policy sectors, and that means that she will face MEPs with interests in different policy spheres. 

Her hearing is being jointly led by the European Parliament's committee for Women's Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) and its Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL). 

The committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) is associated with the hearing and the committee on Legal Affairs and the Committee on Petitions has also been invited to attend. 

What happens if MEPs aren’t satisfied?

According to the European Parliament’s rulebook, if Dr Dalli fails to get the two-thirds majority she needs to pass the grilling, MEPs will send her further written questions.

And, in the possibility that MEPs are still not satisfied with Dr Dalli’s replies, a group made up of the president of the assembly and the leaders of the MEP political groups can have her face a second grilling. 

How does Dr Dalli feel about the job?

A Labour Party veteran, Dr Dalli, who just turned 57, has said she hopes to “tackle the buts” if she makes it to Equality Commissioner.

In an interview with The Sunday Times of Malta shortly after her nomination she had said would be building on her domestic experience and knowledge, as well as the European and international contacts she built in this sector while minister. 

What can she expect to be asked?

In a press briefing held on Tuesday morning, an MEP who sits on the women's rights committee FEMM made it clear that Dr Dalli would be expected to distance herself from Malta's anti-abortion stance. 

"She will have to show that she will not be bringing any national Maltese baggage with her," German MEP Maria Noichl told Times of Malta.

A look at the written questions sent to the Commissioner-designate give an indication of MEPs’ various concerns. 

Dr Dalli should expect questions about her personal qualifications and experience. 

MEPs will ask how she would contribute to advancing the strategic agenda of the Commission; how she would implement gender mainstreaming and integrate a gender perspective into a wide range of policy objectives for the next five years. 

She will likely have to give guarantees of independence.

During the previous term, the European Commission did not issue an EU Strategy on Gender Equality, to the dissatisfaction of the Parliament. 

Dr Dalli will expect to be asked to commit to coming out with a fully-fledged EU Strategy on Gender Equality. 

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