New EU Justice Commissioner nominee faces parliamentary review hearings News
New EU Justice Commissioner nominee faces parliamentary review hearings

[JURIST] Franco Frattini (profile from BBC News), the new Italian nominee for the EU Justice, Freedom and Security portfolio, faced his second day of hearings before European Parliament committees Tuesday. As reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, Frattini was named to the slate of incoming European Commissioners when controversial nominee Rocco Buttiglione withdrew his name after receiving harsh criticism for expressing conservative views on homosexuality and marriage during his review hearings. On Monday, Frattini faced questioning from the Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties. Although most of the questions dealt with immigration policy, several MEPs did ask questions about Frattini's views on gender and sexual orientation discrimination. Frattini only said that is he is now "a representative of Europe," he would be bound by the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Read a summary [PDF] of Frattini's testimony. EUobserver.com has more. Tuesday morning, Frattini was questioned by the European Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee. Frattini's written answers to questions posed to him before the hearings are available here [PDF].