grilling

According to some commentaries, a new majority is emerging in the European Parliament outside the traditional block of the populists and socialists. Martin Vokálek, the executive director of EUROPEUM Institute, spoke to Rádio Prostor about the changes in the Parliament and also about what the new European Commission will look like.

In the shadow of the US elections, candidates for European Commissioners, including former Czech minister Jozef Síkela, addressed MEPs in Brussels last week. He is to be in charge of the Commission's international cooperation agenda, so during the three-hour grilling he had to answer questions about investment in Asia or Africa, or the controversial EU-Rwanda mineral deal. How did he impress with his performance? Žiga Faktor, deputy director and head of the EUROPEUM Institute's Brussels office, commented for the 5:59 Seznam Zprávy podcast.

The Mayor's party, who have the right to nominate a European Commissioner under the Czech coalition agreement, have announced that they will nominate both Danuše Nerudová and Jozef Sikela for the position of the next Czech European Commissioner. The government is due to decide on a candidate by the end of August. Can the Czech Republic get a highly sought-after economic portfolio? What are the advantages for the country if it gets it? And how difficult is the process of questioning candidates in the European Parliament, the so-called grilling? Klára Votavová, researcher at EUROPEUM Institute, answered these and other questions in an interview for Czech Radio.