Trump-sanctioned ICC wins EU Parliament’s human rights prize

Polico, Max Griera, October 22, 2026 

Court nominated by center-left weeks after sanctions imposed by Donald Trump.

This photograph shows a view of the International Criminal Court in The Hague on September 23, 2026. | Remko de Waal/ANP/AFP via

STRASBOURG — The International Criminal Court has won this year's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, awarded by the European Parliament, according to two people with knowledge of the decision. 

The €50,000 prize honors defenders of human rights and freedom of thought, with past winners including Nelson Mandela, Alexei Navalny, Belarusian journalists, and the people of Ukraine. 

Parliament President Roberta Metsola announced the decision later on Thursday: “The European Union is built on respect for multilateralism and international institutions, and this prize recognizes the important work of the Court in upholding international law and justice.” 

The Socialists and Democrats group nominated the ICC following U.S. President Donald Trump's sanctions on the court, announced on Oct. 9. 

Inside the room, European People's Party chief Manfred Weber was counting on the right-wing groups to back his group's pick for the prize, Tanzanian politician Tundu Lissu — but needed the Patriots’ support to secure a majority. The Patriots, however, stood by their own nominees, the Iranian twin sisters imprisoned for protesting, one of whom has been sentenced to death. 

Weber first asked the right-wing ECR to lobby Patriots chief Kinga Gál. When that failed, he approached her himself, according to two officials, granted anonymity to speak about the internal process. Gál ultimately recused herself from voting, allowing the Socialists, Renew, Greens and The Left to prevail with a relative majority of votes. 

"It is a great achievement for the European Socialists that we led this proposal despite the EPP’s opposition. We are on the right side of history. This vote shows that the majority of this Parliament, together with our group, stands with international law,” Spanish S&D lawmaker Hana Jalloul, one of the promoters of the ICC nomination, told POLITICO. 

French MEP Chloé Ridel said: "This is a message of hope and resistance sent to Donald Trump. No, we will not abandon the rule of law and international justice. We will stand with the ICC for as long as it takes.” 

The prize is named in honor of Andrei Sakharov, a Soviet physicist and political dissident. Shortlisted candidates are traditionally invited to the Parliament’s award ceremony, which takes place during the December plenary session in Strasbourg. The Parliament plans in the coming months to increase the prize money from €50,000 to €100,000, according to an internal note seen by POLITICO.

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Belarus opposition wins EU parliament rights award

Yahoo – AFP, Alex PIGMAN with Antoine LAMBROSCHINI in Moscow, October 22, 2020 

The ex-Soviet nation has been gripped by protests after since Lukashenko
claimed victory in an August 9 election

The European Parliament on Thursday awarded the Sakharov Prize for human rights to the movement opposing President Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus, led by the exiled Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. 

"It is an honour to announce that the women and men of the democratic opposition in Belarus are the 2020 Sakharov Prize laureates," tweeted European Parliament President David Sassoli.  

"They have on their side something that brute force can never defeat: the truth. Do not give up on your fight. We are by your side." 

The choice is likely to meet with disapproval of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who staunchly supports his embattled Belarusian counterpart. Russia already denounced the choice of the 2018 winner, Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, who was jailed at the time. 

Belarus has been gripped by unprecedented protests since Lukashenko claimed victory in an August election over Tikhanovskaya. 

Every Sunday, tens of thousands of Belarusians, despite the risk of arrest and the threat of live ammunition, take to the streets to oppose Europe's longest serving leader. 

Waving white-red-and-white banners they march peacefully, despite a daunting police presence, beatings and the use of water cannons and anti-riot grenades. 

Tikhanovskaya, who was granted shelter in EU member Lithuania after the vote, has called on Lukashenko to quit power before October 25, warning he would otherwise face a crippling general strike. 

Belarus opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya is living in exile

Double-edged sword 

The protest movement is largely unconnected with traditional political life and is especially led by women and young people who have no recollection of the Soviet era. 

Almost all the figures linked to Tikhanovskaya -- or the opposition Coordination Council set up to begin a transition of power -- have been imprisoned, placed under house arrest or forced into exile. 

Supported by Putin, Lukashenko has ruled out any major concessions, promising only a vague constitutional reform to get out of the crisis and staged a sham of a dialogue with opponents by visiting them in prison. 

Tikhanovskaya meanwhile has won the support of the EU's biggest players, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron. 

Europe's support is a double-edged sword for the opposition, as Moscow and Minsk have constantly denounced a Western conspiracy. 

The Sakharov Prize, set up in 1988 and named after Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, is awarded every year to individuals or organisations that "have made an important contribution to the fight for human rights or democracy". 

Last year's award of the 50,000 euro ($58,000) prize went to Uighur intellectual Ilham Tohti, who is sentenced in China to life imprisonment for "separatism". 

The prize is to be handed out at a plenary session of parliament on December 16. 

The other finalists for the prize were environmental activists in Honduras, including the murdered  Berta Cáceres, and Father Najeeb Michael, the Archbishop of Mosul in Iraq.

EU parliament declares 'Black Lives Matter'

Yahoo – AFP, June 20, 2020

Racial justice protests have spread from the United States to Europe, including this
mid-June 2020 demo in Strasbourg, eastern France (AFP Photo/PATRICK HERTZOG)

Brussels (AFP) - The European Parliament voted Friday to declare that "Black Lives Matter" and to denounce racism and white supremacism in all its forms.

The resolution has no legal consequences but sends a signal of support to anti-racism protesters, and it follows a UN call for a probe into police brutality and "systemic racism."

And, one day before President Donald Trump is to hold a rally in Tulsa, a city that saw one of the worst racist massacres in US history, the lawmakers condemned American police brutality.

Point number one of the text of the resolution takes up the slogan US campaigners painted on the street leading to the White House, when it "Affirms that Black Lives Matter."

The resolution, passed by 493 votes to 104, "strongly condemns the appalling death of George Floyd", an unarmed suspect killed by US police in May.

The EU parliament resolution also rebuked President Donald Trump for his "inflammatory 

rhetoric" and for threatening to deploy the army against protesters (AFP Photo/Angela Weiss)

It rebukes Trump for his "inflammatory rhetoric" and for threatening to deploy the army against protesters.

And EU member states themselves, many of which have seen protests in recent days about modern racism and previous colonial crimes, are not spared in the motion.

EU capitals are urged to denounce "the disproportionate use of force and racist tendencies in law enforcement."

The EU institutions and the member states should officially acknowledge past injustices and crimes against humanity committed against black people, people of colour and Roma.

And the resolution declares the slave trade a "crime against humanity."

Earlier Friday, the UN Human Rights Council demanded a report on "systemic racism", but left out any direct mention of the United States in the resolution.

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"Barriers & Filters-1 Fear”, New York City, New York, June 6, 2020 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (>14:36 Min - Reference to the Global Protests regarding the death of African American George Floyd)

Greta Thunberg tells EU to stop 'pretending' on climate

Yahoo – AFP, March 4, 2020

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg said that despite "disregarding" science, the EU
was hoping its climate plan "will somehow solve the biggest crisis humanity has
ever faced" (AFP Photo/KENZO TRIBOUILLARD)

Brussels (AFP) - Teenage eco-warrior Greta Thunberg branded the EU's grand plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 inadequate on Wednesday and said Europe is falsely claiming to lead the world on climate.

The European Union must stop "pretending that you can be a climate leader and still go on building and subsidising new fossil fuel infrastructure," the Swedish activist told a committee hearing at the European Parliament.

Thunberg was addressing MEPs as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a new draft law that Brussels has hailed as the cornerstone of Europe's "Green Deal" to fight climate change.

The 17-year-old said that despite "disregarding" science, the EU was hoping its plan "will somehow solve the biggest crisis humanity has ever faced".

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (C) announced a new draft law 

that Brussels has hailed as the cornerstone of Europe's "Green Deal" to fight 

climate change (AFP Photo/JOHN THYS)

"This must come to an end," she said.

Earlier, Thunberg had been a guest at a meeting of top EU officials that approved a proposal to enshrine into law the EU's ambition of net zero carbon emissions by mid-century.

This would bind the EU's 27 member states to balance polluting emissions and the removal of greenhouse gases -- such as by using carbon capture technology or reforestation -- within the next 30 years.

The law, once ratified, would also give the EU executive new powers to impose emission targets on member state governments.

"When your house is on fire, you don't wait a few more years to start putting it out," said Thunberg.

"When the EU presents this climate law and net zero by 2050 you indirectly admit surrender, that you are giving up," she said.

EU leader urges MEPs to back green growth plan

Yahoo – AFP, Marine LAOUCHEZ, Dave CLARK, December 11, 2019

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the 'Green New Deal'  to
fight climate change was "Europe's man on the moon moment" (AFP Photo/
Aris Oikonomou)

Brussels (AFP) - The EU's top official Wednesday launched the bloc's new "Green Deal", hailing it as a strategy for jobs and economic growth, not just for cutting emissions.

Unveiling the plan to the European Parliament, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen also warned against the steep cost of inaction.

Earlier, she had compared the ambition of the plan to the 1960s US mission to the moon, but Green groups were quick to warn it does not go far enough.

The key element of the plan will be a law committing member states to build a carbon neutral economy by 2050 -- but first it will need the go-ahead from parliament and EU leaders.

"We do not have all the answers yet. Today is the start of a journey. But this is Europe's man on the moon moment," Ursula von der Leyen said.

She promised a "new growth strategy" that "gives back more than it takes away", aiming to mobilise around 100 billion euros to fund clean energy projects.

"We have to make sure no one is left behind," she told reporters. "This transition will either be working for all and be just, or it will not work at all."

In parliament, she said: "Some say the cost of this transition is too high, let us never forget what the cost of non-action would be. It is rising by the year."

The document is the first major political challenge for the former German defence minister since she took charge of the European Commission this month.

And it comes as a UN global climate summit is under way in Madrid -- focusing attention on the crisis -- and on the eve of von der Leyen's first EU summit.

Various leaked versions of the plan have been flying around Brussels for weeks, and lobby groups from all sides of the debate have been piling on pressure.

The European Parliament was the first to officially receive the plan.

"At this point, we can't yet say if it's a Green Deal or green washing," said French Green MEP Karima Delli as associations feared the proposals did not go far enough.

The leaders of EU member states will hear it on Thursday at their Brussels summit and von der Leyen's deputy Frans Timmermans will take it to this week's COP25 forum in Madrid.

"It's important that, in parallel to the announcement, there's a signal" of support from European leaders, European Council President Charles Michel said.

The "European Green Deal" lists legislative proposals, financial instruments and action plans in different sectors, with a timetable.

The key goals are to use a combination of cleaner tech and carbon capture methods to make Europe the first "carbon neutral" economy by 2050.

Global competitors

Three countries still highly dependent on fossil fuels, particularly coal, could still block the way: Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.

To convince them, the Commission plans to establish a 100-billion-euro "transition mechanism" to help them transition to renewable energy sources.

"It would help if at the Council we get some progress on carbon neutrality," said MEP Pascal Canfin, chair of the environment committee of the leaders' meeting.

The European Commission wants to set a target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 50 or even 55 percent by 2030, up from its 40 percent goal.

But for some this does not go far enough.

"The promises are too small, too few, and too far off," said Jagoda Munic of Friends of the Earth Europe.

"We're on a runaway train to ecological and climate collapse and the EU Commission is gently switching gears instead of slamming on the brakes."

The action plan also includes plans to extend the EU Emissions Trading System into the highly polluting shipping sector.

And there are plans for a "border adjustment mechanism" aimed at importers to ensure that EU companies do not lose out to competitors who flout the Paris Climate Agreement.

The Commission will also lay out the timetable for its "from farm to fork" strategy to promote sustainable and quality agriculture, as well as that on biodiversity.

But however ambitious von der Leyen's environmental plan is, it will be very dependent on the money EU members are willing to spend on it.

For the moment, this is the unknown. Negotiations for the multi-year MFF budget for the period 2021-2027 are running late and entering a difficult stage.

EU leadership takes office touting green ambition

Rfi.fr - AFP, 1 November 2019

Von der Leyen replaced EU veteran Jean-Claude Juncker as president of the 

European Commission AFP

Brussels (AFP) - The EU's new leadership took office on Sunday, one month later then planned, promising a more united Europe that would be ready to face major challenges, including fighting climate change.

Germany's Ursula von der Leyen became president of the European Commission and marked the occasion in a short ceremony with her top EU official counterparts, including EU Council President Charles Michel who also started on Sunday.

The team took the reins as the 28-member union is faced with a mountain of difficulties, including the Brexit divorce with Britain and tense ties with superpowers China and the United States.

Von der Leyen said the officials gathered, who also included European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde, must meet a great responsibility as guardians of the EU treaties.

"It is a responsibility towards the European people and towards our founding father and mothers, but it is also a responsibility towards our children," she said.

"It is our responsibility to leave a union that is stronger than the one we inherited: ... a continent in peace with rights and liberties (and) a single market with unprecedented economic opportunities," she said.

Former IMF chief Lagarde, who took office last month, stressed that the union had only recently left the damaging debt crisis and must look to the future.

"It's a formidable challenge that awaits us, but my hope is that... we may leave this age of repairing (the EU) to one of renovation and hope," she said.

Von der Leyen, who replaced EU veteran Jean-Claude Juncker, will lead a 27-strong team of commissioners who also began work on Sunday with a clear ambition to make Europe a global powerhouse on green policy.

European Parliament President David Sassoli said the MEPs would hold an extraordinary session on December 11 -- the eve of an EU leaders summit -- to receive the commission's first climate proposals, dubbed the "Green New Deal".

The Sunday ceremony was officially the 10th anniversary of the latest European treaty that simplified an EU governance, which remains complicated and often criticised as too removed from the continent's 500 million citizens.

Her mandate was due to start November 1 but was delayed after three of her initial nominees to the commission were rejected during the parliamentary confirmation process in an unprecedented snub.

EU changes title for migration commissioner after outcry

Yahoo – AFP, Marc BURLEIGH, November 13, 2019

EU Commission president-elect Ursula von der Leyen had dug in over the original title
'Protecting our European Way of Life' before finally ceding (AFP Photo/Tobias SCHWARZ)

Brussels (AFP) - The incoming European Commission chief has changed the title of her migration commissioner from "Protecting our European Way of Life" following criticism it had far-right connotations, an EU official said Wednesday.

Ursula von der Leyen agreed to modify the title to "Promoting the European Way of Life" for the commissioner, her spokesman told AFP. Her commission plans to take charge from next month.

The original name given to the portfolio had brewed up a storm, especially among left-wing MEPs who noted a similarity to rhetoric employed by anti-immigration politicians.

Outgoing Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said in September he believed the title would end up being changed, adding: "I don't like the idea that the European way of life is opposed to migration."

But his successor von der Leyen dug in for a long time, arguing that the title was grounded in the language of tolerance enshrined in the EU treaty.

Greece's Margaritis Schinas, who is set to take on the role, has avoided using the title though he has defended von der Leyen's position.

Delayed changeover

Von der Leyen's hopes of a smooth transition have taken a blow after MEPs blocked three picks for her team, deeming them unsuitable to become commissioners.

That has pushed back the date she hoped her Commission would take over, from November 1 to December 1 at the earliest.

Brexit turmoil and elections in Britain, still an EU member until at least the end of January, have compounded the commission conundrum, with London dodging her demands for the UK to also nominate a commissioner.

Von der Leyen still needs MEPs to confirm her replacement picks for commissioners, especially France's Thierry Breton, a multi-millionaire former minister who barely scraped through the parliament's legal affairs grilling.

The leftist Socialists and Democrats grouping in the European Parliament, which was among the most vocal against the "Protecting our European Way of Life" title, hailed the belated change.

Its leader, Iratxe Garcia, portrayed the modification as von der Leyen bending to pressure from her group.

"We all agree that the European way of life is an achievement we must preserve, but it doesn't have to be defended, rather promoted," Garcia said in a statement.

She added that von der Leyen had also agreed to change other job titles, with the jobs portfolio becoming "jobs and social rights" and the word fisheries being added to the title carried by the commissioner for environment and oceans.

A source in the left-wing bloc of MEPs told AFP the changes "take a bit of pressure off" the hearings for the commissioner candidates.

A spokesman for von der Leyen's commission, Eric Mamer, told reporters at a briefing that he was not yet fully informed on the change of titles for the migration portfolio, but he said it "puts a nuance that is probably a little more positive" than the original one.

Shell, other oil giants, spent €250m lobbying Brussels in 10 years

DutchNews, October 24, 2019

Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell is among five big energy companies which have spent a combined €250m on lobbying the European Union in an effort to influence policy, according to Brussels-based research group Corporate Europe Observatory. 

‘Since 2010, just five oil and gas corporations and their fossil fuel lobby groups have spent at least a quarter of a billion euros buying influence at the heart of European decision-making,’ the organisation said on Thursday. 

‘We need a firewall that protects our democratic institutions and our political decision-making from fossil fuel industry interference,’ the organisation said. ‘No more private lobby meetings, partnerships, or collaboration.’ 

Shell, BP, Chevron, Total and ExxonMobile lobbyists have held 327 meetings with EU officials over the 10 year period, including 13 with Frans Timmermans or members of his ‘Better Regulation’ task force. This, the researchers say, is more than one meeting a week. 

In total, the oil giants have some 200 lobbyists working on their behalf in Brussels.

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"Recalibration of Free Choice"– Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth, 4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical) 8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“… 4 - Energy (again)

The natural resources of the planet are finite and will not support the continuation of what you've been doing. We've been saying this for a decade. Watch for increased science and increased funding for alternate ways of creating electricity (finally). Watch for the very companies who have the most to lose being the ones who fund it. It is the beginning of a full realization that a change of thinking is at hand. You can take things from Gaia that are energy, instead of physical resources. We speak yet; again about geothermal, about tidal, about wind. Again, we plead with you not to over-engineer this. For one of the things that Human Beings do in a technological age is to over-engineer simple things. Look at nuclear - the most over-engineered and expensive steam engine in existence!

Your current ideas of capturing energy from tidal and wave motion don't have to be technical marvels. Think paddle wheel on a pier with waves, which will create energy in both directions [waves coming and going] tied to a generator that can power dozens of neighborhoods, not full cities. Think simple and decentralize the idea of utilities. The same goes for wind and geothermal. Think of utilities for groups of homes in a cluster. You won't have a grid failure if there is no grid. This is the way of the future, and you'll be more inclined to have it sooner than later if you do this, and it won't cost as much…

Water

We've told you that one of the greatest natural resources of the planet, which is going to shift and change and be mysterious to you, is fresh water. It's going to be the next gold, dear ones. So, we have also given you some hints and examples and again we plead: Even before the potentials of running out of it, learn how to desalinate water in real time without heat. It's there, it's doable, and some already have it in the lab. This will create inexpensive fresh water for the planet. 

There is a change of attitude that is starting to occur. Slowly you're starting to see it and the only thing getting in the way of it are those companies with the big money who currently have the old system. That's starting to change as well. For the big money always wants to invest in what it knows is coming next, but it wants to create what is coming next within the framework of what it has "on the shelf." What is on the shelf is oil, coal, dams, and non-renewable resource usage. It hasn't changed much in the last 100 years, has it? Now you will see a change of free choice. You're going to see decisions made in the boardrooms that would have curled the toes of those two generations ago. Now "the worst thing they could do" might become "the best thing they could do." That, dear ones, is a change of free choice concept. When the thinkers of tomorrow see options that were never options before, that is a shift. That was number four.”

“Afraid of Love” + “What’s Wrong Today”, Laguna Hills, California, US(2), Dec 9, 2018 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

• Stagnation of the current US Politics: Compassioned (US) leaders will arise in the future
• Shortage of fresh/drinking water: Invention to make salt from salt water magnetic and remove it with water desalination process in high volumes
• Pollution on Earth: 1 - Stop killing the environment! / 2 - The rise of temperature on Earth is “temporary” and is part of the "regular" Watercycle.
• Replacement of current fossil energy source: Use of magnetics based (small/big) engines to produces electricity / free energy
• Plastic pollution in the oceans: Invention to remove the plastics gradually from the oceans

EU pursues Brexit ratification despite delay request

Yahoo – AFP, Dave CLARK, and Martin Trauth, October 20, 2019

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators joined an anti-Brexit march in
central London on Saturday (AFP Photo/Niklas HALLE'N)

Brussels (AFP) - Brussels officials on Sunday pressed on with plans to ratify the divorce deal as European leaders considered Prime Minister Boris Johnson's reluctant request for a Brexit delay.

Ambassadors and senior officials from the other 27 member states met Sunday after British MPs forced Johnson to send EU Council president Donald Tusk a late request to postpone the withdrawal.

"The EU is keeping all options open and has therefore initiated the ratification process so that it can be handed over to the European Parliament on Monday," an EU diplomat told AFP.

"The EU will probably pursue this strategy until there is clarity on the British side," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Tusk will spend a "few days" canvassing member state leaders, and diplomats said this would mean the British parliament will have to vote on Brexit again before hearing their decision on the October 31 departure.

"It was a very short and normal meeting of the EU ambassadors to launch the next steps of the EU ratification of the agreement," EU negotiator Michel Barnier told reporters after Sunday's talks.

Diplomats told AFP the ambassadors' meeting lasted only 15 minutes and had dealt simply with EU ratification, although a participant said they had "taken note" of Johnson's letter.

Asked whether he thought EU leaders would grant a delay, Barnier said: "President Tusk will consult in the next days."

Previous deal torpedoed

On Saturday, MPs pushed through an amendment obliging a furious Johnson to ask for an extension until the British legislation governing the withdrawal is drafted and passed.

Johnson, who refused to sign the letter and insists no delay is necessary, plans to bring the Brexit agreement he reached with Barnier last week to a vote on Monday.

MPs will thus have to vote without knowing whether EU leaders will allow an extension -- and if so whether they will delay Brexit as far as January 31 next year, as the British letter requested.

"Further developments on the British side will have to be taken into account," another European diplomat confirmed.

"What was decided on Thursday stays on the table. The British parliament didn't reject the deal, so no need to change course."

And one diplomat took to Twitter to complain that his Sunday morning had been disrupted by British political manoeuvres.

Gregor Schusterschitz, Austria's deputy permanent representative to the EU, sent a picture of the meeting agenda.

"What better way at to start a Sunday morning than with a meeting on Brexit... and this in all the uncertainty yet again created by the House of Commons," he added.

European sources were not sure how any decision on an extension will be made. Tusk could call a special summit next week, but diplomats said he is more likely to use a written procedure.

Diplomats suggested a summit would only be necessary if British MPs reject the deal next week and overturn the whole process. Any decision either way must be unanimous.

"If the parliament says it needs more time, then there could be a 'technical extension' for some weeks. This would probably be agreed. We certainly do not want to risk a no deal because of a few days more," one EU diplomat said.

Election prospects

If the House of Commons rejects the withdrawal agreement, however, the EU leaders would probably want to hold a meeting to discuss whether it is worth giving a longer extension to allow Britain to hold an election or second Brexit referendum to break the impasse.

Last week, EU and UK negotiators announced an agreement to govern Britain's departure from the bloc at the end of the month and European leaders endorsed it at a summit on Thursday.

The EU parliament will begin its own ratification procedures on Monday but Britain's House of Commons, which torpedoed an earlier agreement signed a year earlier, still has its doubts.

MEPs disqualify two candidates for new EU Commission

Yahoo – AFP, Marc BURLEIGH, Clément ZAMPA, September 30, 2019

Incoming European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has suffered a
blow to her choice of team with two candidates being disqualified (AFP Photo/
FREDERICK FLORIN)

Brussels (AFP) - European lawmakers vetting candidates for the new European Commission on Monday declared two of the 26 unfit to take office due to conflicts of interest.

The nominees put forward by Hungary and Romania were rejected by the European Parliament's legal affairs committee just ahead of confirmation hearings for the team picked by incoming Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.

A German member of the committee, Tiemo Woelken, tweeted that members had decided that Romania's Rovana Plumb and Hungary's Laszlo Trocsanyi are "unfit to become commissioners".

French member Manon Aubry told journalists a vote confirmed the committee's finding last week that the two commissioners "cannot take office because of conflicts of interest".

The decision weakens von der Leyen's hand as the European Parliament holds confirmation hearings for the remaining commissioner candidates, running from Monday to October 8.

It also obliges Hungary and Romania to put forward new candidates.

Most of the rest of the team chosen by von der Leyen -- who is already confirmed -- are expected to get through the grilling, forming a near gender-balanced executive drawn from across the European bloc's member states.

Members of the new European Commission with their portfolios (AFP Photo/

Patricio ARANA)

But the legal affairs committee pre-empted the wider parliament's hearings by using a new power to scrutinise candidates.

Trocsanyi, meant to take charge of EU enlargement issues, was tripped up over government contracts awarded to his law firm.

In a statement, Trocsanyi slammed the "blatant injustice" of his disqualification and vowed to fight it "before the responsible court of justice".

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban had claimed the committee's move was motivated by Trocsanyi -- his former justice minister -- helping "to stop migration".

Plumb, a former Romanian labour minister, was stymied over two problematic loans that raised suspicions of corruption.

A vice chairman on the legal affairs committee, Sergey Lagodinsky, tweeted that the disqualifications were "a victory for parliamentary democracy".

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban claimed his candidate ran into trouble 

for helping to 'stop migration' (AFP Photo/ATTILA KISBENEDEK)

Uncomfortable questions

Hungary and Romania, while initially standing by their candidates, have said they have no lack of replacement names if necessary.

A spokeswoman for the European Commission said that von der Leyen would decide whether or not to ask for new nominees after she is officially informed by the parliamentary speaker of the committee's decision.

Some of the other designated commissioners also have clouds hanging over them.

But, while they were likely to have uncomfortable questions thrown at them in the public hearings, they were seen as being under less pressure.

The EU's anti-fraud office OLAF declined to recommend charges against Poland's candidate commissioner, Janusz Wojciechowski, after he reimbursed 11,250 euros ($12,300) for travel expenses improperly claimed while he was an MEP.

Ireland's Phil Hogan -- named to be EU commissioner for trade -- will be one 

of the first to appear in the hearings (AFP Photo/EMMANUEL DUNAND)

A similar OLAF probe into France's Sylvie Goulard remains open, but she too has already paid back 45,000 euros.

Belgium's Didier Reynders had a corruption probe against him set aside on Friday, while Spain's Josep Borrell -- named to become the EU's foreign policy chief -- was fined 30,000 euros last year for insider trading.

No British candidate

The European Parliamentary hearings were expected to also touch on a controversy over von der Leyen's decision to give the title of "Protecting our European Way of Life" to the commissioner in charge of migration.

Three commissioners-designate were to appear for hearings on Monday: Slovakia's Maros Sefkovic, to handle interinstitutional relations; Ireland's Phil Hogan, for trade; and Bulgaria's Mariya Gabriel, for innovation and youth.

The hearings end with von der Leyen's three executive vice presidents being quizzed.

Britain is the one EU member state without a future commissioner in the mix as its government is intent on it leaving the bloc on October 31, the day before the new European Commission takes office.