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#SecurityUnion: British Commissioner-designate Sir Julian King to be interviewed by the European Parliament

Published

10 years ago

September 5, 2016

The European Parliament will evaluate Commissioner-designate Sir Julian King (pictured) for the portfolio of the Security Union during its plenary session in Strasbourg. The Civil Liberties Committee will first hold a public hearing with the candidate on Monday 12 September in the evening. The full House will take a vote on Thursday (15 September).

Julian King's candidacy was put forward by the UK government following the resignation of Lord Jonathan Hill, who held the Financial Services portfolio. Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker announced last month that he intended to allocate the newly created Security Union portfolio to the new UK commissioner.

The Civil Liberties Committee will hear the Commissioner-designate on Monday in Strasbourg, from 19h to 22h. The Committee will convey its evaluation to the Conference of Presidents and the full House will vote on Thursday.

As Commissioner for the Security Union, Julian King will support the implementation of the European Agenda of Security and contribute to delivering an operational and effective Security Union. He will work under the guidance of First Vice-President Frans Timmermans, complementing the work of Commissioner Avramopoulos, who is in charge of Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship.

Procedure forhearings of Commissioners-designate

As laid down in the Rules of Procedure (Annex XVI), the Civil Liberties Committee sent a set of written questions to the candidate. Civil Liberties Committee MEPs are particularly interested in his priorities in the area of Security, the coordination with Commissioner Avramopoulos, and the implementation of current legislative instruments, in particular as regards information sharing between law enforcement authorities. The Commissioner-designate is expected to answer the questions in writing by 8 September.

The hearing before the Civil Liberties Committee will last three hours. Julian King may make an opening statement of no longer than 15 minutes. There will be two rounds of questions and the candidate will have the opportunity to make a five-minute closing statement.

Civil Liberties coordinators will meet (in camera) on Tuesday 13 September to assess the outcome of the hearing. The Committee Chair will inform the President as well as the Conference of Committee Chairs. The assessment will then be examined by the Conference of Presidents. The full House will vote on Thursday (15 September).

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