Glenn Micallef to face MEP grilling on 4 November

Glenn Micallef will be among the first nominees to the European executive to be grilled by a parliamentary committee of MEPs on 4 November, ahead of a general vote in the plenary.His sitting is scheduled on the same day and time as that of Slova

By: independent.com.mt

Oct 10 2024
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Glenn Micallef to face MEP gri

Glenn Micallef will be among the first nominees to the European executive to be grilled by a parliamentary committee of MEPs on 4 November, ahead of a general vote in the plenary.

His sitting is scheduled on the same day and time as that of Slovakia's Marus Sefkovic.

Micallef has been assigned as commissioner-designate for intergenerational solidarity, youth, culture, and sport, and will be taking questions in a three-hour session from MEPs from the lead committee Culture and Education, but other MEPs from the committees covering employment and social affairs, civil liberties, justice and home affairs, and legal affairs will also be present.

Micallef, a former head of secretariat at the Office of the Prime Minister, has never occupied a ministerial post or been an MP, a situation that led to Prime Minister Robery Abela being harshly criticised for his choice. Micallef was Abela's second option, as the nomination of former deputy prime minister Chris Fearne had already been made public until the latter was charged in court in connection with the hospitals' magisterial inquiry.

Malta was listed as being among the losers in the list of portfolios assigned by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The government lobbied to obtain the post of Commissioner for the Mediterranean, which went to Croatia.

The hearings will take place between 4 and 12 November, and a formal acceptance or otherwise of the nominees will be announced at the end of the hearings.