The European Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament found the performance of commissioner-designate Johannes Hahn during his hearing today to be acceptable.
The S&D Group attaches great importance to both enlargement and neighbourhood policy and we expect the new Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement to work hard on these two vital areas promoting the values of the EU. The enlargement perspective and process reinforce the EU's efforts towards achieving prosperity, stability, peace and democracy.
Richard Howitt MEP, S&D coordinator in the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee who helped lead the questioning of commissioner-designate Hahn at the hearing said:
"Socialists and Democrats propose removing the word 'negotiations' from the European commissioner's title. We fought hard to get the word 'enlargement' into the title but as a result of the hearing process we hope it can become simply 'European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement.' This will send a strong political signal that the aim is not just negotiating but actual EU membership for Turkey and the western Balkan countries. The mention of "Enlargement negotiations", instead, sends confusing signals to both candidate and potential candidate countries. Enlargement is, indeed, a process that starts well before the accession negotiations, promoting a positive transformation from the very early stages and we all need to support it.
"Although the commissioner-designate comes from Austria, a country with the least support for EU enlargement, we need to ensure that the commissioner's nomination is not seen as a sign of enlargement fatigue in the EU today but of the real determination in Brussels to overcome it in public opinion throughout the member states."
S&D vice-chair responsible for foreign affairs, Knut Fleckenstein, added:
"We pay particular attention to the social dimension of both enlargement and neighbourhood policy and we expect the new commissioner to take that into account. We believe that the European Commission should work closely with civil society organisations and trade unions. Social unrest, as experienced in Bosnia and Herzegovina recently, is a wakeup call that should not be ignored.
"With the EU facing considerable challenges in its immediate neighbourhood , we need to improve our crisis management capacity and develop flexible and more effective tools for supporting reforms and promoting our values and principles. We expect commissioner Hahn to work closely with the new High Representative/Vice-president and show creativity if it becomes necessary to review the European Neighbourhood policy in relation to its eastern and southern dimensions. We welcome the commitments he has made in this respect and we invite him to build upon the positive track-record of commissioner Štefan Füle."
