BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union Parliament’s environment committee on Tuesday declined to accept the two nominees to lead Europe’s climate agenda, demanding that the candidates first provide more details on how they would take forward green policies, three EU officials told Reuters.
Former Dutch foreign minister Wopke Hoekstra, nominee for the EU’s next head of climate change policy, and Maros Sefcovic – the EU Commissioner in line to taken over coordination of overall green policies – each failed to win approval from the committee after hours-long hearings in which they set out their plans for the roles, the officials said.
Lawmakers are expected to demand both candidates answer extra questions, before reconsidering whether to give them the green light on Wednesday, the officials said.
(Reporting by Kate Abnett; editing by Bart Meijer)
