**Euro MPs are poised to quiz the UK’s nominee for the new job of EU foreign policy chief, as hearings for the new European Commission get under way.**Catherine Ashton was formerly EU trade commissioner, and some MEPs may question her foreign policy experience.
She is also likely to face questions about the planned new EU diplomatic service, which will have a staff of up to 5,000.
MEPs have the power to veto the whole Commission. The vote is on 26 January.
The European Parliament is the EU’s only directly elected institution and has gained greater legislative powers under the Lisbon Treaty.
Each commissioner-designate faces a three-hour grilling by the parliament committee that covers their area. The whole process is set to last a week.
The commissioners lead the powerful EU civil service for five-year terms. They have the job of drafting new legislation and ensuring compliance with existing legislation, as well as acting as guardians of the EU treaty obligations.
In 2004, MEPs blocked the appointment of Rocco Buttiglione, Italy’s nominee for the post of EU justice commissioner, meaning that the proposed Commission team had to be refashioned. MEPs objected to Mr Buttiglione’s opposition to gay rights.
Tough questions
Baroness Ashton is among nine women in the new 27-member Commission. She would be a Commission vice-president as well as EU foreign affairs chief.
Each member state has a commissioner, but their role is to act in the common European interest, not to pursue a national agenda.
Baroness Ashton’s job - High Representative for Foreign Affairs - was created by the Lisbon Treaty, which went into effect on 1 December, following eight years of difficult negotiations.
The nominees have had some extra time to prepare for the hearings, because of the delay in putting Lisbon into effect.
Finland’s Olli Rehn also comes under scrutiny on Monday. Formerly enlargement commissioner, he is the nominee for the economic and monetary affairs portfolio - a sensitive post as Europe’s economies struggle to revive growth.
Some nominees are likely to face particularly tough questioning, correspondents say, including Rumiana Jeleva from Bulgaria, the commissioner-designate for international aid and development, and France’s Michel Barnier, internal market commissioner-designate.