The hearings of the 26 Commissioner-designates start and the ECR Group present their nomination for the Sakharov prize.

Start of Commissioner hearings

Hearings begin on Monday for the Commissioner-designates of the new European Commission. The hearings last until 8th October, before they are evaluated by Committee Chairs and then eventually closed by Group leaders on 17th October. Parliament is then due to vote on the new Commission as a whole in Strasbourg on 23rd October. Full details of the hearings are available HERE.

ECR Group present ‘The Restorers’ for 2019 Sakharov Prize

Nominations for this year’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought will be presented in a joint meeting of the Foreign Affairs, Human Rights and Development committees on Monday afternoon. The ECR Group’s nomination this year is a group of Kenyan students who have developed a mobile phone app aiming to help victims or potential victims of Female Genital Mutilation. The students call themselves ‘The Restorers’ and their nomination will be presented by our Flemish MEP Assita Kanko.