Vera Jourová’s hearing in the European Parliament started brightly, but she failed to make a connection with MEPs.

Jourová, the nominee from the Czech Republic who has been assigned the justice, consumers and gender equality remit in the next Commission, said that her portfolio has an impact on all European Union citizens.

But the range of topics that she will have to deal with was perhaps too diverse for her to fully engage with at this stage.
Jourová faced questions from members of four different committees: internal market and consumer protection (IMCO), legal affairs (JURI), civil liberties, justice and home affairs (LIBE), and women’s rights and gender equality (FEMM).

But she failed to make commitments where it mattered. To be fair to her, the questions often covered many topics at the same time, making it difficult for her to give satisfactory answers in the short time available. She often said that “red tape needs to be cut”, and “we need to regain citizens’ trust” but there was a lack of real promises. In her closing remarks Jourová seemed to be aware of this problem, saying that “she is a politician and not a civil servant”, which explained her “lack of detailed answers”.

When asked about the economic environment for small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) she said: “There should be a uniform set of rules for cross-border operations. We should eliminate barriers that companies face.”

And when talking about the harmonisation of company law among member states, she said: “I believe it is a good purpose, but there is still a long way ahead of us to explain this to the member states.”

On the topic of data protection, which will no doubt loom large for the Commission in the next five years, Jourová said that she will “not make concessions on this topic” – without going into detail about what that might mean.

When questioned about bankers’ bonuses, a topic that will fall under Jourová’s supervision even though it was expected to be in Jonathan Hill’s portfolio (financial stability, financial services and capital markets union), she said: “I will make sure that the rules on bankers’ bonuses are fully implemented.”

The committee on women’s rights and gender equality asked questions about her take on maternity leave legislation (which has been on the table since 2010).

Jourová says she wants this to be “approved next year, but I am not going to be specific about the exact time”. She was more certain on the ratification of the 2015 Istanbul convention – on the prevention of violence against women – saying that she wants to make sure that all member states sign up. So far only eight have done so.

At the end of the hearing, Jourová said that she wanted to show the person she really is, but it is unlikely that MEPs have got a clear sense of her personality.

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She came across as vague and was criticised by several MEPs for not giving clear answers, making the hearing a tiring three hours.
In his round-up, Claude Moraes, chairman of the LIBE committee, critised Jean-Claude Juncker, the Commission’s president-elect, saying: “There are too many commissioners dealing with the same issues, which is not your [Jourová’s] fault.”

Read the live blog from the hearing – as it happened.