Hungarian EU Commissioner-designate to get enlargement portfolio

This is not a surprise as after the finalisation of Romania's new nomination, the portfolios of all commissioner-designates were apparent except for Várhelyi, whom the Commission's President-elect Ursula von der Leyen tasked with managing the same portfolio that she had originally intended for the rejected Hungarian nominee for the Commission, László Trócsányi.

Olivér Várhelyi, just like his Romanian and French counterparts, will have to be heard first by the European Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee where they will inspect if any conflicts of interest arise concerning their persons. This hearing is expected to take place on 12 November, after which the commissioner-designates will have to prove their preparedness in their areas before the European Parliament's respective committees, most likely on 14 November. Várhelyi will have to appear before the Foreign Affairs Committee, which has two Hungarian members, Kinga Gál from Fidesz and Márton Gyöngyösi from Jobbik.

Cover photo: MTI/Prime Minister's Press Office /Balázs Szecsődi

This article is part of the work programme titled "The impacts of EU cohesion policy in Hungary - Present and Future" which is carried out by Net Média Zrt., the publisher of Portfolio.hu, between 1st April 2019 and 31st March 2020 with European Union financing. The views in this article solely reflect the opinions of the author. The European Commission as the funding entity does not take any responsibility for the use of information presented in this article.