Füle appears before MEPs at hearing to decide commission posts

The Czech Republic’s candidate for the post of European commissioner, Štefan Füle, answered questions from MEPs at a hearing on Tuesday to decide whether he should actually get the job. Mr Füle, a career diplomat who was once a member of the Communist Party, is in line for the position of commissioner for enlargement. At the start of his appearance in Brussels, he said there should be no shortcuts to membership of the European Union. On the hot issue of whether Turkey should be allowed to join the EU, Mr Füle told members of the European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee that accession talks were the best way of helping bring about that country’s modernisation. Asked whether he believed Turkey could be a full member of the EU, the Czech nominee said it most certainly could. The MEPs made almost no reference to Mr Füle’s Communist past. Tuesday was the second of four days of interviews of candidates for European Commission posts.