Under current procedures, together with the (newly) elected Commission President, the Council appoints the Commissioners-designate. Each Commissioner-designate is assigned responsibility for a specific policy area by the Commission President. The relevant EP committees assess each of the Commissioners-designate, before a plenary vote on the appointment of the College as a whole.

Confirmation hearings in the relevant committee or committees

The Commissioner-designate is invited to a three-hour confirmation hearing, streamed live, in front of the EP committees responsible for their portfolio.

Conclusion of the confirmation hearing process

The Conference of Presidents declares the confirmation hearings closed after having analysed the evaluation letters from the Committees in charge and the recommendation of the Conference of Committee Chairs (CCC). Only at this point can the evaluation letters be published and comments on the evaluation be made.

Plenary vote of investiture

The Commission President takes the results of the confirmation hearings, as well as consultations with Parliament's political groups, into account. They then presents their team and political priorities during a plenary session. After a debate, MEPs will decide, by a majority of votes cast, whether to invest the new College of Commissioners for a mandate of five years.

Meeting of the Conference of Presidents in presence of Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission on the confirmation hearings process