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...