Media: Romanian Corina Cretu, among the six European Commissioner-designates who risk being changed

Romania’s nominee for the new European Commission led by Jean-Claude Juncker, Corina Cretu, is one of the six members who could be changed, following political negotiations, according to EurActiv. Corina Cretu was designated to be the new European Commissioner for Regional Policy, one of the most important mandates, in terms of the budget allotted to it. Corina Cretu got the OK from the regional development commission within the European Parliament, after the hearing on October 1, but still needs to be validated by the European Parliament together with the other 27 members. “The European Parliament has taken so far at least six “hostages” among the commissioner-designates, setting the stage for difficult negotiations with the Commission, and a possible reshuffle of the proposed team of President-elect Jean-Claude Juncker,” EurActiv writes. Czech Věra Jourová, Commissioner-designate for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, Spain’s Miguel Arias Cañete, who was nominated for the Energy portfolio, and Hungary’s Tibor Navracsics, Commissioner-designate for Education, Culture, Youth and Citizenship were the “weak links” following the hearings of the first 21 candidates for the European Commissions. “To restore the political balance, Romania’s Socialist candidate Corina Creţu, Romania’s Commissioner – designate for Regional Policy, is also in limbo, as the center-right European Peoples Party (EPP) found her performance unconvincing,” says EurActiv. France’s Pierre Moscovici, to whom Juncker assigned the portfolio of economic and financial affairs, and UK’s Jonathan Hill, Commissioner-designate for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union are the other two commissioners targeted by the European Parliament for further negotiations with the elected president of the EC Jean-Claude Juncker. editor@romania-insider.com