EP to hold hearing of Bulgarian Commissioner-designate Iliana Ivanova on September 5

A hearing of Commissioner-designate Iliana Ivanova will take place on September 5, from 10:30 to 13:30 (Bulgarian time), the European Parliament announced on Friday. 

Ivanova, who is designated for a commissioner of innovation, research, culture, education, and youth, will be heard by the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) and Committee on Culture and Education (CULT). They will assess whether she has the required competences and suitability to replace Mariya Gabriel, who resigned as commissioner on May 15 in order to assume the office of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria. 

The hearing can be watched live on European Parliament’s streaming website and on EbS+. 

It will last three hours. The candidate will make a 15-minute introductory statement, which will be followed by questions from MEPs. There will be 25 questions in total: one minute per question, followed by a one-minute answer from the candidate and a possible follow-up question from an MEP. Before the hearing ends, the candidate will be able to give a five-minute statement.

The hearing will immediately be followed by a closed-doors meeting in which the chairs and group representatives (coordinators) of the two committees will evaluate Ivanova’s suitability for the post.

The Conference of Committee Chairs will then assess the outcome of the hearing and forward its conclusions to the Conference of Presidents (which is made up of the President of the European Parliament and political groups’ chairmen).  On September 6, the latter will conduct the final evaluation and decide whether to close the hearing process and hold a vote during the September plenary session (September 11-14).