Jerzy Buzek on Bulgarian Commissioner's-designate withdrawal Jerzy Buzek President of the European Parliament said today: The European Parliament, today, has carried out 26 hearings of Commissioners-designate lasting 3 hours each. This is a great exercise in European Parliamentary democracy. Nevertheless, the exercise is not fully complete. I acknowledge the withdrawal of Mrs Rumiana Jeleva as Commissioner-designate. This puts us in a new situation concerning the timetable for establishing a new European Commission. As the President of the European Parliament, I am particularly interested in ensuring that the hearings process is successfully completed. After receiving officially the name of the new Bulgarian Commissioner-designate, the European Parliament will set a date for the new hearing. I will make sure that the Parliament will be able to vote on the College as soon as possible, before the next meeting of the European Council. This does not leave us with a lot of time. We need a European Commission in place as soon as possible in order to meet the concerns of European citizens. The European Parliament cannot do this alone. The new hearing could take place on 3 February and the vote on the new European Commission could take place on 9 February in Strasbourg, the final decision on the new timetable will be taken by the Conference of Presidents. Commission Barroso, Parlement européen à Strasbourg, 2010, BUZEK Jerzy 19-01-2010
