HUNGARY'S ANDOR PUTS IN CONVINCING PERFORMANCE.

• Position: Laszlo Andor

Laszlo Andor, the Hungarian commissioner-designate for the employment and social affairs portfolio, seemed to convince, on 13 January, most of the members of the European Parliament's Employment and Social Affairs Committee with his politically correct and diplomatic answers.

The Chairwoman of the committee,aPervenche Beres (S&D, France), was "more than satisfied" after the three-hour session. "We need someone in this position who is fully committed to a social Europe but who has on top of that a background in economics. Moreover, he was really precise in his wordings and was capable to interconnect most of the topics," she said. Some MEPs, however, were more critical and questioned the "general" answers he gave. Elizabeth Lynn (ALDE, UK) commented that "I am sure that after he has done his homework a bit more, it will be all right".

Prior to the hearing, during which Andor had to respond to no less than 40 questions, the Greens had had their doubts about whether the Hungarian candidate would be "passionate" enough to really fight for social problems. Jean Lambert of the UK said that "We want to know whether he is able to take on the political fight since he has merely an academic and research kind of background".

But Andor held his ground. "It is definitely my intention to take all these issues very seriously but I also need the support of the EP. Without you we cannot improve anything," he said. Alejandro Cercas (S&D, Spain) was also very satisfied after the hearing: "He is a intelligent and calm person. He showed that he was quite aware of the reality in the member states. The fact that he is willing to look into solving the issue of the Working Time Directive on a sectoral way and that for him the use of the opt-out [the biggest of all stumbling blocks during the negotiations to revise the directive last year - Ed] is not a structural solution, convinces me that we have entered a new era for social policy".

Addressing a room jam-packed with MEPs, Andor promised to take up his new job with "full commitment" and to fight the steadily rising unemployment in the European Union with all the tools he will be given under the treaty. "It has always been a complex task to tackle employment and social affairs issues but nowadays it is simply daunting," he said. According to Andor, there is a strong need to find a "balanced way out of the crisis" and to "stop job losses and get people back to work". The aim should still be to strive for "full...