Roxana Mînzatu passes the JURI Commission, after explaining the wealth declaration

The Committee for Legal Affairs (JURI) of the European Parliament approved, yesterday, the 26 candidates for the positions of European Commissioners, even if for 23 of them it requested additional clarifications regarding the declarations of assets and interests, according to an article published by politico.eu. Among those targeted was Roxana Mînzatu, proposed by Ursula von der Leyen for the position of executive vice-president of the European Commission. The candidate from Romania declared before the JURI Commission that she had nothing new to add and emphasized that "it would not be appropriate to comment on any leak or speculation" while the evaluation process is still ongoing.

According to the quoted source, among the commissioners who had to provide additional explanations regarding the declarations of assets and interests were also:

- Apostolos Tzitzikostas of Greece, who declined to provide many details about his vast real estate holdings, saying most of the properties were inherited and the proceeds from them go toward maintenance and repairs. It owns 16 apartments, approximately 655,463 square meters of land, six shops and several garages and storage spaces throughout Greece.

- Spain's Teresa Ribera, who reiterated that she has no financial interests that would create a conflict of interest, although her earlier statements in Madrid included additional details about several savings and properties. According to Politico journalists, in the declaration of wealth and interests given in 2023, Ribera claimed that he has 250,000 euros in a savings account and is a co-owner of four properties, as well as owning shares in one of the largest banks in Spain, BBVA, worth 1,680 euros.

- Stephane Sejourne from France, who, despite his public position for increased transparency, submitted an almost blank form, citing compliance with the European Commission's Code of Conduct.

- Kaja Kallas of Estonia declared that she has no financial interests and has consciously avoided investments to prevent conflicts of interest, especially in the context of the controversy surrounding her husband's businesses.

- Henna Virkkunen from Finland maintained that she has no relevant financial assets to declare, citing only regular bank accounts.

- Slovakia's Maros Sefcovic rejected the commission's request for more information, arguing that he has been a commissioner since 2009 and that his statements have been public since then. He emphasized having standard bank and savings accounts, but that he didn't declare them because it wasn't mandatory. Regarding questions about his husband, he justified the lack of information by arguing that she had not worked since 2004. When asked for a comment, Sefcovic said: "The EVP made sure to provide the European Parliament with the necessary and clear clarifications in response to the Committee's follow-up questions."

- Roxana Mînzatu said in her response to the commission's request for more information that she had nothing new to declare. Contacted by POLITICO, Mânzatu said "it would not be appropriate to comment on any leaks or speculation" while the review process is ongoing.

- Austria's Magnus Brunner was asked to provide more details and said he had already stated everything he was required to disclose. "In the interest of full transparency, I could add - although they are not required by the declaration of interests - the following elements: I own a security issued by the Republic of Austria in the amount of 100 euros, I took out two bank loans, one for the purchase and renovation of the house our family and another to finance my children's education abroad, I am a home owner," he said in a letter to the Juri Commission.

- Maria Luis Albuquerque from Portugal was also asked to provide more information about her financial interests and amended her previous statements to provide more details about her role in two companies. This includes her own boutique consultancy that she owns with her husband, which she says is in the process of leaving, and a holding company, HRRL Açores, that she participated in as part of her previous activities.

- Marta Kos from Slovenia detailed her financial holdings in savings accounts and mutual funds, totaling approximately euro1 million. The future enlargement commissioner said he holds around euro523,000 in the regional bank of the Swiss canton of Vaud, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise. She was a consultant for a lobbying firm in Brussels and has an account of 682,000 euros in a Slovenian bank, which deals with investments in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, according to charts she included in declaration of assets and interests.

- Ekaterina Zaharieva, nominated by Bulgaria, was asked to clarify the source of euro38,000 in cash, which she said belonged to her husband.

- Italy's Raffaele Fitto has provided MPs with numerous documents to clarify the number and current market value of the shares he holds in banks - the value of which remains below the euro10,000 threshold. The incoming Commission Vice-President in charge of the Cohesion Fund also corrected his initial wealth declaration, as he noticed a gap of euro860 in the amount listed as savings (worth euro246,090). His real estate assets, all located in Italy, include land, two garages and a winery. Two of these assets were financed entirely through personal funds, according to Raffaele Fitto, while two others involved mortgages. One of them - a mortgage loan of 600,000 euros with Banco di Napoli (now Banca Intesa Sanpaolo) has not yet been paid in full.

- Dubravka Suica from Croatia decided to sell all the shares it held in the shipping company Atlantska Plovidba worth 3,684 euros. She thus responded to JURI Commission members' concerns that these actions could now generate a conflict of interest, as she was assigned the Mediterranean portfolio.

Some MPs, particularly from the Greens and the Left, criticized the trial as a "farce" and walked out of the meeting in protest. Faced with additional questions from Parliament, the candidates relied on ambiguous rules to avoid answering before Thursday's committee meeting. "It is not clear what they have to give because the rules are worded strangely," a parliamentary official told the source. Under European rules, candidates must disclose any "investment" over euro10,000 and any assets and liabilities that could create a conflict of interest. Real estate and bank accounts used for personal purposes do not need to be declared. It is up to candidates to disclose or omit based on their own assessment what might constitute a conflict of interest, "which is strange," the same official said. This explains why some nominees did not disclose additional information.

"When we raised issues about the incompleteness of the information and that we should ask another question, the majority of colleagues in the Commission voted against it because they were afraid that their candidates could be affected," the MEP leader told Politico The Greens in the committee, Serghei Lagodinsky.

However, all 23 candidates who provided additional information were approved as of Thursday morning, even though some of them submitted incomplete or ambiguous statements.