.jpg)
Karmenu Vella grilling • as it happened
Commissioner-designate Karmenu Vella’s grilling by the European Parliament: as it took place, in our live-blog.
29 September 2014, 10:25am
Matthew Vella
Matthew Vella
2 min read
Karmenu Vella during the European Parliament hearing (Photo: EP/Flickr)
Commissioner-designate Karmenu Vella
Former Labour tourism minister Karmenu Vella was Malta’s nominee for the college of European Commissioners and President-elect Jean-Claude Juncker has chosen him for the environment, fisheries and maritime portfolio.
But before he can be sworn in as Commissioner, Vella – like the rest of the Commissioners-designate – must undergo the so-called grilling: tough questioning by the European Parliament through its committees.
Juncker’s choice of commissioner to handle the environment, fisheries and maritime affairs did not go down well with green NGOs, who have expressed concern at an apparent ‘downgrade’ of the environment (previously a standalone portfolio) as a key area of European policy.
Read: What to expect from the Vella grilling
Questions have also been raised – among others, by BirdLife Europe – regarding the suitability of Karmenu Vella himself for the post, given Malta’s track record in the area of wildlife protection.
The Juncker administration is seen as having shrunk the environmental component in the new structure: while Vella will have the environment, the energy and climate commissioner-designate is Spanish Miguel Arias Canete, a former oil firm president.
Both appointments are part of a reshuffle of environment and energy portfolios that has angered environmentalist but “delighted” business groups.
Vella’s hearing will take place in the specific committees associated with his portfolio. Environment, fisheries and maritime policy are dealt with in two separate committees: environment by the ENVI commission; fisheries and maritime affairs by PECH. So the two committees will have to be brought together for a joint sitting.
Environment is now combined with farming and Vella will have to balance conflicting interests of birds and farmers. He also has to review the Birds and Habitats Directives and will be reporting to the Commission’s new vice-president responsible for economic growth, Jyrki Katainen.
“The incoming environment commissioner is requested to review legislative proposals such as the air and circular economy packages in the light of the 'jobs and growth' agenda, and to question the effectiveness of the Birds and Habitats Directives. This is a longstanding demand of anti-environment business interests.
“Under a banner of reform, a deeply regressive deregulatory agenda has been put forward here that reads like a wish-list of private sector interest groups hostile to the environment,” Jeremy Wates, head of the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), said.
Once Vella has duly answered the committees’ questions, the MEPs will remain in the chamber and discuss their assessment of the hearing: particularly, the group co-ordinators in those two committees.
Matthew Vella, a freelance journalist at MaltaToday, was formerly executive editor at Malt...
“Claude, I think the battle between ‘economists’ and ‘environmentalists’ is over”
I am saying this to confirm what you said, that it is useless to have rules if we don’t implement them.”
Former Labour leader Alfred Sant said this morning that he was “not particularly surprised” by Vella’s declaration, who he described as having been “neither here nor there” on the matter. “Any vote is secret and everybody votes according to what he feels is right.”
Vella’s Q&A to MEPs which you can download here
And his curriculum vitae and his financial declaration