Parliamentary circus

"The Slovenian candidate has proved herself to be a capable applicant with strong opinions," - that was the verdict of the centrist conservative parties, the largest bloc in the European Parliament, after Violeta Bulc's hearing. She did indeed make an extremely good impression, considering that she had barely five days to familiarize herself with her future job as European Transportation Commissioner.

She clearly has a talent for absorbing information and a good memory for all the right jargon words, although she perhaps did over-egg the pudding a little - what, for instance, are we supposed to think "optimal connectivity" means? Or that "people" are at the center of her work. Really?

Bulc is a substitute candidate for her country's original choice, who was sifted out during the first round of hearings in the parliament. Why? She hardly seemed any less capable of fulfilling her role in a new EU Commission that seems to contain a number of candidates singulary unsuited to their posts. But little Slovenia had to make a sacrifice.

Exhibition of miscasting

The most inappropriate appointments - such as the Spaniard Miguel Arias Canete, an oil company shareholder appointed as the new Climate Action and Energy Commissioner, or the British Lord Hill, a former lobbyist for London's City who is to be the new commissioner for Financial Stability - were merely rubberstamped by the parliamentarians. They come from the most important member states and have the backing of the political parties in power. And anyway, the main aim was not to damage Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker before he takes office. After all, the two biggest party blocs - the conservatives and the Social Democrats - had agreed to appoint him. Everything else was just an exhibition.

In principle, of course, it's a nice democratic idea to allow the parliament to participate in the appointment of the commissioners - the EU's ministerial posts. But if the hearings that are supposed to assess whether the candidate is suitable for the post merely become part of the EU's regular political horse-trading - a demonstration with little purpose - then they might as well be scrapped. The audience must feel like they're being made fools of if it's clear in advance that the players have to dance along, but it really doesn't matter how well they do it. On Wednesday (22.10.2014), Juncker and his troop must be confirmed in their various offices. It doesn't matter how many square pegs have to be slotted into round holes.

Scrap the bazaar

Just like Noah's Ark, the European Commission seems to have space for all the different species: machos, climate change deniers, industry lobbyists, destroyers of human rights - there seems to be nothing that disqualifies a national politician for the EU Commission. Even those who weren't real politicians are allowed to take a turn. The Slovenian Violeta Bulc had only been a minister for three weeks when she was sent to Brussels. Before that she was a businesswoman with a weakness for the esoteric. In her blog, she described the exciting experience of having walked on hot coals. Perhaps this was what qualified her for the hot seat of the European Parliament? But what next? Shamans, snake-charmers, water diviners?

It is well-known that European politics is a shameless bazaar of backroom dealing. Occasionally, a few politically naive people show some resistance, such as Michael Cramer, a veteran transport expert for the German Green party. "If we're supposed to vote for her, we can stop doing these hearings," he said. He's right. And the people of Europe shouldn't be sold this circus as democracy. In the past few years, many of them have grown weary of such shows. There's only one way to deal with a democratic practice that has become a tired old routine - get rid of it.