Ivanova would be responsible for innovation, research, culture, education and youth, replacing Mariya Gabriel who stepped down in May 2023 to take up a post in the new Bulgarian government.
Ivanova served as an MEP from 2009 to 2012 and has been a member of the European Court of Auditors since 2013.
The hearing in Parliament is organised jointly by the industry, research and energy committee and the culture and education committee. It will be held on 5 September, with a vote scheduled during the plenary session on 11-14 September.
The procedure in Parliament
Whenever a member of the European Commission needs to be replaced or there is a significant reassignment of portfolios, Parliament invites the candidates for the new jobs to hearings so that MEPs can evaluate them.
The procedure is similar to the one for the election of the Commission at the start of each term. First, the legal affairs committee examines a candidate’s declaration of financial interests to confirm the absence of conflicts of interests. This is a precondition for holding a hearing with the candidate.
The hearing is then organised by the committees dealing with the portfolio of each candidate. Before it starts, the candidate needs to answer some questions in writing. The hearing lasts three hours and is streamed live. After the hearing the responsible committee or committees prepare an evaluation letter.
The Conference of Committee Chairs, which includes all chairs of parliamentary committees, will then assess the outcome of the hearing and forward its conclusions to the leaders of the political groups and the President of Parliament in the Conference of Presidents, who are responsible for the final evaluation and decision to close the hearings or request further action. Parliament can then proceed to the plenary vote.
Parliament has a consultative role on individual candidates for commissioners, while it can approve or dismiss the European Commission as a whole. An agreement between Parliament and Commission requires the Commission president to consider the opinion of Parliament on individual candidates and changes in the composition of the Commission.
As always, when Parliament votes on individual candidates, voting is by secret ballot and requires a simple majority.
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