European Union lawmakers flexed their political muscle Monday, rejecting for a second time Hungary and Romania's nominees for two of the bloc's top posts amid concerns over possible conflicts of interest.
The EU parliament's legal committee refused last week to recommend that Rovana Plumb of Romania and Laszlo Trocsanyi of Hungary be allowed to face official hearings that would determine whether they are fit to take up new commission portfolios in the EU's powerful executive arm when it takes office in November.
Plumb was in line to become the EU's top transport official. Trocsanyi was slated to become the commissioner in charge of future EU expansion, leading negotiations with candidate member countries.
Attention focused on Plumb over some loans she had taken out, while Trocsanyi was questioned about a legal firm he founded in 1991.
Both have denied any wrongdoing or conflicts of interest.
In a move that surprised some legal committee lawmakers, a new vote on the nominees was put on the agenda Monday. After it was taken, EU Parliament spokesman Jaume Duch Guillot tweeted that the two "are unable to exercise his or her functions in accordance with the (EU) treaties and the code of conduct."
"We held our positions: the two candidates are rejected, but the attack on democracy and the weaknesses of this procedure remain."
The committee's vice president, Sergey Lagodinsky, tweeted that the vote "is a victory for parliamentary democracy."
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