MEPs vote to rescind von der Leyen’s controversial SME envoy pick

Lawmakers called 382-144 to reverse the decision to appoint Markus Pieper in a suspected case of political favouritism.

Transcript

00:00 Members of the European Parliament want the Commission's appointment of Marcus Pieper, a small business envoy, to be cancelled.

00:08 The amendment, tabled by the Greens, Social Democrats and Liberals, received 382 votes to 144.

00:17 His hiring by Ursula von der Leyen has drawn criticism around transparency.

00:22 The MEPs say the Commission President and Pieper are both CDU party members.

00:28 The four-year post is said to pay more than 19,500 euro per month.

00:34 We are in the electoral period. We reward our friends.

00:39 The CDU delegation leaders, the party of Mrs von der Leyen, who just appointed her as head of the list for the European elections,

00:48 the candidate of the most important group in the Parliament for her own succession,

00:54 will be the Commission President again. So it's obvious that there is a link. All this, of course, without the last minute fuss,

01:02 the copping, the conflict of interest.

01:06 The signatories of the amendment are claiming political favouritism and want the appointment process to start again.

01:13 Several senior EU commissioners, including Joseph Borrell and Thierry Breton, have also questioned the hire.

01:20 Pieper's allies say the process has been "formal, fair and multi-step".

01:26 They say the assessment procedures shouldn't be used for campaigning goals.

01:31 There are procedures. These are implemented by the institutions, each of the institutions for its own recruitment.

01:39 And the Commission has respected the procedures for the recruitment of Mr Pieper, of his advisor for the PM.

01:58 Even though the amendment passed in Parliament, its influence on the Commission remains unclear.

02:04 Marcus Pieper has already signed his contract. He's due to take up his post advocating for small and medium-sized businesses next week.

02:14 [SWOOSH]