Lawmakers are vetting the EU chief’s new team. It might be tough but she has the right on her side

Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — The influence of nationalist and populist parties on the European Union will be on public display next week when lawmakers vet new members of the bloc’s increasingly powerful executive branch. From Monday, the European Parliament will grill 26 top officials to establish whether they are suitable to lead the next European Commission on policies like agriculture, trade, economic affairs, health or migration. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen assembled her new-look executive for the next five years in September. It’s a tricky exercise, balancing sensitive political, national and gender concerns. But the hard right is working with her political family. Mainstream pro-European parties are not happy.