BRUSSELS - How European Commissioner-designate Jozef Síkela will ensure that European development money does not end up in the wrong hands is what MEP Ondřej Kolář was most interested in. He asked the possible future EU Commissioner about this during the traditional "grilling" of the candidate at the Development Committee.
"Strengthening the security of the European Union is the new Commission's biggest challenge. It is not only about strengthening our defence, but also about economic, energy and migration security. Jozef Sikely's portfolio spans all these areas, it involves a large budget and I therefore consider it very important," said MEP Ondřej Kolář.
"What I wanted to hear from Mr Sikely was how he would ensure that the European money that will be going out of his portfolio for development aid does not end up in the hands of corrupt regimes or terrorists who then, for example, use water pipes to assemble missiles to fire at our allies. We cannot afford to repeat the mistakes made in other regions." says Kolář.
Jozef Síkela answered questions from selected MEPs at the Committee on Development today, the traditional "grilling" of candidates for European Commissioners precedes their approval in the European Parliament.
"The DEVE Committee deals with development aid. One of Mr Sikely's key tasks will be to strengthen the role of the European Union in regions where Russia and China have gained enormous influence over the last decade. He will have to try to negotiate cooperation where Putin has long since had his foot in the door. This is a task where political dexterity and commercial negotiating skills are needed. It will not be easy at all," Kolář thinks.
The task of Sikely should be to establish cooperation in countries that can contribute to strengthening European energy and economic security, but which often face their own security problems.
"In many of the countries with which we now want to cooperate, Europe has lost influence, often because of its colonial past. Having a Czech in charge of development in these regions can be very helpful, because it does not bring with it those colonial prejudices. On the contrary, he will have the opportunity to explain that European colonialism is a thing of the past, while the modern colonialism that is being practised in many parts of the world by Russia and China is plundering countries, corrupting governments, or even changing them for ones that are in their favour. For Jozef Sikel, this is a huge task, but it is doable," says Kolář.
"Today has only confirmed to me that the Czech Republic can have an influential and strong European Commissioner. Not only thanks to the portfolio, but also thanks to the person of Jozef Sikely himself. He made a very good impression on me personally, his answers were clear and his ideas about what he wants to achieve were clear. I will wish Mr Sikel and the new Commission every success. There is no shortage of work ahead of them." Concludes Kolar.
Today, Jozef Síkela answered questions from MEPs in the European Parliament's Committee on Development (DEVE). Ondřej Kolář had the opportunity to ask the Commissioner-designate directly, while most other Czech MEPs did not get the chance. The hearings of the other candidates are continuing, and the new Commissioners will be formally confirmed by MEPs in plenary, probably at the end of November.
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