The European Parliaments Legal Affairs Committee Tuesday narrowly approved the financial declaration of Thierry Breton, Frances nominee for the European Commission.
The committee gave Breton, who is slated to take on a beefed-up internal market portfolio, the green light despite concerns from some members about potential conflicts of interest linked to his business background, including in the digital sector.
MEPs voted by 12 in favor and 11 against to give Breton the all-clear. They also approved by unanimity the financial declarations of Adina-Ioana Vălean, the new Romanian nominee for transport commissioner, and Olivér Várhelyi, currently Hungarys ambassador to the EU, who is slated to take up the enlargement portfolio.
Last week, Breton pledged to stay away from decisions directly involving his former company Atos and to avoid conflicts of interest.
Todays decision clears the way for all three nominees to face confirmation hearings in the Parliament on Thursday.
But Breton in particular could still face a rough ride. On Tuesday, the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), the Greens and the far-left GUE group unsuccessfully requested that he answer additional written questions on how he would recuse himself from Atos from a regulatory standpoint.
“I think there are many questions about hRead More – Source
