Danish Energy and Housing Commissioner nominee Dan Jørgensen deployed a mix of charm, directness and readiness to ignore questions, to navigate his hearing in front of industry and employment MEPs yesterday evening.
Initial reactions from MEPs in the room were positive, and shortly after the official confirmation came that Jørgensen had secured the necessary support.
The Dane set the tone for the hearing with his opening remarks.
He said that every time he passes by the European Parliament, he is transported back 22 years to his first morning as a trainee in the institution. Jørgensen recalled the nervous feeling of butterflies in his stomach, and told MEPs that he had a few butterflies in his stomach before his hearing.
The personal approach seems to have worked – Jørgensen was rewarded with a round of applause from his inquisitors at the end of his opening remarks.
Jørgensen was also playfully direct with MEPs, including Christophe Grudler (Renew), a prominent nuclear supporter. Responding to the French liberal, Jørgensen said that Grudler was “a polite man,” and wondered aloud if he was being asked whether he would channel EU money to finance nuclear.
Throughout the hearing Jørgensen backed his charm with many figures, from the percentage of Europeans unable to heat their homes (10.6%) to the capacity of the new Spanish-Portuguese power interconnector (3.2GW).
Beyond the charm, however, Jørgensen tapped into his experience as an energy minister to demonstrate a solid knowledge of energy policy.
Perhaps more importantly, Jørgensen showed a very clear understanding of what he was willing to promise – and not promise – MEPs.
On nuclear energy, an area where the historically sceptical Dane anticipated significant pressure, Jørgensen was clear about the limited support he was willing to give the technology.
He acknowledged his mandate from Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to promote Small Modular Reactors and reiterated his belief in the 'technology neutrality principle.' He also said that nuclear would be part of his planned Clean Investment Plan, even though his mission letter from von der Leyen does not require this.
However, when asked about large nuclear reactors, he referred to Commission projections, which foresee a similar volume of nuclear power capacity in the 2050s as is deployed today.
Jørgensen also clarified that he did not expect to revise power market rules – an ongoing discussion in Brussels.
Finally Jørgensen said he wanted a 2040 EU renewables target to complement the climate targets for the same year, which are currently under discussion.
However, he would not commit to a new deadline to phase out Russian fossil fuel imports despite several MEPs pushing the issue. Jørgensen only said that he wanted to accelerate the current deadline of 2027, and would do whatever he could to achieve this.
Jørgensen occasionally received very specific questions, which he was content not to answer.
German MEP Andrea Wechsler (EPP) asked Jørgensen a question focused on the Low Carbon Hydrogen Delegated Act. The Dane replied with a general question on hydrogen’s role in the energy transition.
Later, Czech MEP Ondřej Krutílek (ECR) asked him whether he would amend the EU’s sustainable finance rules to give more favourable treatment for nuclear.
Jørgensen gave a general response without mentioning sustainable finance and finished by looking at the Czech and saying, “I hope that answers your questions.”
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