Thierry Breton scrapes through first European Parliament scrutiny

Thierry Breton, France’s nominee as EU commissioner, has scraped through a preliminary examination of his financial affairs in the European Parliament, in a tight vote that sets the stage for a tough confirmation hearing on Thursday.

The European Parliament’s legal affairs committee approved Mr Breton’s financial declarations on Tuesday with 12 votes in favour and 11 against — narrowly clearing him for a confirmation hearing with MEPs in order to become Brussels’ new single market and industry commissioner. 

The former industrial chief’s financial affairs have been under sharp scrutiny from MEPs. He most recently served as the chief executive of software giant Atos and resigned from all his corporate jobs to take up the Brussels role. 

A former French economy minister, Mr Breton was nominated after French president Emmanuel Macron’s first pick, Sylvie Goulard, was rejected by MEPs last month over a bogus jobs scandal. 

Despite having cleared one of his toughest hurdles on Tuesday, MEPs warned that Mr Breton would be subject to an intense grilling from left and green parties over his financial ties to the tech sector, which he would be in charge of regulating if he is confirmed in the commission job.

“A former industry manager writing the rules for his former company and industry erodes public trust in his acting in the public interest,” said Patrick Breyer, a German Pirate party MEP who sits on the legal affairs committee. 

Tiemo Wölken, a German Social Democrat MEP, said he regretted the legal affairs committee’s approval and said there “are many questions about [Mr Breton’s] conflicts of interest”. 

EP officials warned the narrow vote meant Mr Breton was unlikely to immediately gain the two-thirds majority he needs to pass his confirmation hearing on Thursday.

“He will probably be called back for another hearing at least,” said one party official. 

Mr Breton’s rejection would be a source of huge embarrassment for Mr Macron after Ms Goulard, a former MEP, was dumped by the parliament. To help convince MEPs of his merits, Mr Breton has vowed to stay away from decisions that would impact Atos’s business and has said he will sell his shares in the company. 

The Frenchman is likely to win the backing of Mr Macron’s Renew Europe MEPs and the centre-right European People’s party — the biggest group in parliament. 

The European Parliament has rejected three EU commission nominees so far this year, the largest cohort to be ditched by any parliament.

Should Mr Breton fail to make it, it would be another setback for Ursula von der Leyen’s new commission, probably delaying her entry into office until the new year.

The new commission will face a final investiture vote in the parliament once all individual commissioners have been approved. Officials hope the vote will take place later this month, which would allow Ms von der Leyen’s commission to take office on December 1. 

The legal affairs committee on Tuesday unanimously approved the financial declarations of Hungary and Romania’s new nominees. Oliver Varhelyi, Hungary’s choice to serve as enlargement commissioner, and Adina-Ioana Valean, Romania’s prospective transport commissioner, will also face hearings on Thursday.