EP hearings into EU nominees resume this week after bruisings in which two candidates were already knocked out and two put on the ropes.

Croatia's European commissioner nominee, Dubravka Šuica - who has been highly-critised at home for not being fully transparent - promised during her European Parliament grilling that she will work "towards the rule of law and transparency".

The Austrian politician, who has been a commissioner for the last ten years, won the support from MEPs as he pledged he would be an "honest broker" in budget talks.

A number of MEPs pressed Margaritis Schinas to drop the "Protecting the European Way of Life" title of his portfolio, which deals with migration. But Schinas refused, claiming it needs protecting from terrorists and populists. He failed to convince.

Estonia's European commissioner-designate for the energy portfolio, Kadri Simson, did not manage to fully convince MEPs during her grilling. She avoided questions on concrete actions for the energy transition in Europe.

French president Emmanuel Macron's EU nominee risks being scalped by the EP after a difficult hearing that focused on her financial improprieties.

Margaritas Schinas at his hearing before MEPs on Thursday has an opportunity to put the core values of the EU – peace, sustainable development and human rights – back at the heart of EU migration policy.

Didier Reynders, Belgium's nominee for EU justice commissioner promised to be tough on Hungary and Poland, while brushing off corruption allegations in his parliament hearing.

Poland's nominee for agriculture commissioner, Janusz Wojciechowski, is likely to face a second hearing after MEPs from top political groups lambasted his "vague" performance on Tuesday.

Europe is falling behind in the global competition. There are many reasons for this, but the most obvious one is that it is too difficult and too expensive to do business here.

Phil Hogan, the current agriculture commissioner, told MEPs the EU needs to defend itself in trade disputes but will try to work together with the US, if Washington is a willing partner.

Hours before the European Parliament hearings of would-be commissioners begin, two nominees are rejected in a second vote by MEPs on the legal affairs committee. It is an early blow to president-elect Ursula von der Leyen.

Two EU commission nominees - Didier Reynders and Janusz Wojciechowski - got an all-clear from fraud investigators on Friday, as MEPs start hearings on Monday.

The independence of Frontex's monitoring system to make sure people are treated humanely when they are forcibly returned is in question. Efforts by some national authorities are underway to create a more credible parallel system based on transparency and scrutiny.